Remote initiation of interaction by a computing entity

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatuses, systems, and computer program products for interactive deliveries are provided. For an upcoming service point that is associated with a service point device, it is determined whether the item to be delivered to the service point is within an activation zone for activating the service point device. Responsive to determining that the item is within the activation zone, the service point device is remotely activated. Remotely activating the service point device triggers dynamical provision of an alert interface. An indication of user interaction via the user interface indicating availability of the user to receive the item is received. A notification of the indication of the user interaction is provided. If the notification indicates that the individual is available to receive the item at the service point, the item is delivered to or picked-up from the service point.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/331,533 filed May 4, 2016, the contents of which are incorporatedherein in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

If item information corresponding to an item to be delivered by acarrier/transporter requires a signature for delivery to be authorizedand/or that the item be delivered to an individual in person, thecarrier/transporter may make multiple failed attempts to deliver theitem. The time required for a delivery vehicle driver to park a deliveryvehicle, retrieve the item from the delivery vehicle, walk to theservice point from the delivery vehicle, and wait for an individual toanswer the door during a failed delivery attempt is time that thedelivery vehicle driver has wasted. Thus, failed delivery attemptsreduce the efficiency of conducting a dispatch plan.

Additionally, with the increasing demand of customer-focused pick-upsand deliveries of items, new technologies are needed for communicatingrelevant information to customers in a timely and easy to use manner.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Example embodiments provide methods, systems, apparatuses, computerprogram products for increasing the interactivity of delivering an itemto or picking an item up from a service point. In example embodiments, aservice point device located at the service point may be remotelyactivated as a delivery vehicle approaches the service point. Anindividual may then provide an indication of whether or not he/she isavailable to receive the item at the service point before the deliveryvehicle stops in the vicinity of the service point and/or before theitem is removed from the delivery vehicle to attempt the delivery of theitem. In example embodiments, if an individual is not available toreceive the item at the service point, the individual may provide anelectronic signature in real- or near real-time and thereby provideauthorization for the item to be delivered to the service point. Inexample embodiments, if an individual is not available at the servicepoint to receive the item, an electronic information notice may beprovided, for example, through the service point device. In some exampleembodiments, the service point device may be used to monitor an itemleft at a service point to ensure that the item is not removed from theservice point by an unauthorized individual.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided.In an example embodiment, the method comprises, for an upcoming servicepoint (a) at which an item is to be delivered or picked-up and (b) thatis associated with a service point device located at the service point,determining whether the delivery vehicle is within an activation zonefor activating the service point device. Responsive to determining thatthe delivery vehicle is within an activation zone for activating theservice point device, the service point device is remotely activated.Remotely activating the service point device causes the service pointdevice to dynamically provide an alert interface for user interactionwith a user. The method further comprises receiving an indication ofuser interaction via the user interface indicating availability of theuser to receive or provide the item at the service point; and providinga notification of the indication of the user interaction. If thenotification indicates that the individual is available to receive orprovide the item at the service point, the item is delivered to orpicked-up from the service point.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus isprovided. In an example embodiment, the apparatus comprises at least oneprocessor and at least one memory storing computer program code. The atleast one memory and the computer program code may be configured to,with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least, for an upcomingservice point (a) at which an item is to be delivered or picked-up and(b) that is associated with a service point device located at theservice point, determine whether the delivery vehicle servicing theservice point is within an activation zone for activating the servicepoint device. Responsive to determining that the delivery vehicleservicing the service point is within an activation zone for activatingthe service point device, the service point device is remotelyactivated. Remotely activating the service point device causes theservice point device to dynamically provide an alert interface for userinteraction with a user. The at least one memory and the computerprogram code may be further configured to, with the processor, cause theapparatus to at least receive an indication of user interaction via theuser interface indicating availability of the user to receive or providethe item at the service point; and provide a notification of theindication of the user interaction. If the notification indicates thatthe individual is available to receive or provide the item at theservice point, the item is delivered to or picked-up from the servicepoint.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a computerprogram product is provided. In example embodiments, the computerprogram product comprises at least one non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium having computer-executable program code instructionsstored therein. The computer-executable program code instructionscomprise program code instructions configured to for an upcoming servicepoint (a) at which an item is to be delivered or picked-up and (b) thatis associated with service point device located at the service point,determine whether the delivery truck servicing the service point iswithin an activation zone for activating the service point device.Responsive to determining that the delivery truck servicing the servicepoint is within an activation zone for activating the service pointdevice, the service point device is remotely activated. Remotelyactivating the service point device causes the service point device todynamically provide an alert interface for user interaction with a user.The computer-executable program code instructions further compriseprogram code instructions configured to receive an indication of userinteraction via the user interface indicating availability of the userto receive or provide the item at the service point; and provide anotification of the indication of the user interaction. If thenotification indicates that the individual is available to receive orprovide the item at the service point, the item is delivered to orpicked-up from the service point.

In still another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided.In an example embodiment, the method comprises establishing acommunication, by a service point device using a short range or longrange communication technology, between an item allocated at a servicepoint and the service point device. The service point device is locatedat the service point and is configured to communicate both through theshort range or long range communication technology and through anInternet protocol network. There are a series of scheduledcommunications between the item and the service point device. The methodfurther comprises receiving, by the service point device, acommunication of the series of scheduled communications provided by theitem; and determining, by the service point device, whether acharacteristic of the received communication is in accordance with anexpected characteristic of the communication. The determination ofwhether the characteristic of the received communication is inaccordance with the expected characteristic of the communication isbased at least in part on at least one previously receivedcommunication. The method further comprises, in response to determiningthat the characteristic of the received communication is not inaccordance with the expected characteristic, determining that the itemhas been moved.

In another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided. Inexample embodiments, the apparatus comprises at least one processor andat least one memory storing computer program code. The apparatus islocated at a service point and is configured to communicate both through(a) the short range or long range communication protocol and (b) throughan Internet protocol network. For example, the apparatus is a servicepoint device. The at least one memory and the computer program code areconfigured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at leastestablish a communication using the short range or long rangecommunication technology, between an item located at the service pointand the apparatus. There are a series of scheduled communicationsbetween the item and the apparatus. The at least one memory and thecomputer program code are further configured to, with the processor,cause the apparatus to at least receive a communication of the series ofscheduled communications provided by the item; and determine whether acharacteristic of the received communication is in accordance with anexpected characteristic of the communication. The determination ofwhether the characteristic of the received communication is inaccordance with the expected characteristic is based at least in part onat least one previously received communication. The at least one memoryand the computer program code are further configured to, with theprocessor, cause the apparatus to at least, in response to determiningthat the characteristic of the received communication is not inaccordance with the expected characteristic, determine that the item hasbeen moved.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a computerprogram product is provided. In an example embodiment, the computerprogram product comprises at least one non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium having computer-executable program code instructionsstored therein. The computer-executable program code instructionscomprise program code instructions configured to establish acommunication, by a service point device using a short range or longrange communication technology, between an item located at a servicepoint and the service point device. The service point device is locatedat the service point and is configured to communicate both through theshort range or long range communication technology and through anInternet protocol network. There are a series of scheduledcommunications between the item and the service point device. Theprogram code instructions are further configured to receive, by theservice point device, a communication of the series of scheduledcommunications provided by the item; and determine, by the service pointdevice, whether a characteristic of the received communication is inaccordance with an expected characteristic of the communication. Thedetermination of whether the characteristic of the receivedcommunication is in accordance with the expected characteristic is basedat least in part on at least one previously received communication. Theprogram code instructions are further configured to, in response todetermining that the characteristic of the received communication is notin accordance with the expected characteristic, determining that theitem has been moved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an overview of a system that can be used to practiceembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a carrier/transportercomputing entity according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a customer computing entityaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, and 4G are electronic door hangersaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary schematic diagram of service point deviceaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating example processes and procedures fordelivering an item using a remote service point device activation inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures that may becompleted, for example by a service point device, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example alert interface, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures forauthorizing a delivery using a remote (near) real-time electronicsignature, in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures fordynamically updating a dispatch plan based on remote activation of oneor more service point devices, in accordance with an example embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures formonitoring an item using a service point device in accordance with anexample embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example retrieval interface, in accordance withan example embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Various embodiments of the present invention now will be described morefully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichsome, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, theseinventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicablelegal requirements. The term “or” is used herein in both the alternativeand conjunctive sense, unless otherwise indicated. The terms“illustrative” and “exemplary” are used to be examples with noindication of quality level. Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout.

I. General Overview

Example embodiments of the present invention provide for determiningwhether an individual is available to receive an item at a service pointbefore a delivery vehicle stops at the service point, before a driver ofthe delivery vehicle exits the delivery vehicle to make the delivery,and/or before the item is removed from the delivery vehicle to bedelivered to the service point. Similarly, example embodiments of thepresent invention provide for determining whether an individual isavailable to provide an item for pick up at a service point before thedelivery vehicle stops at the service point to pick up the item, whetheran item has been placed at an accessible location at a service pointbefore the delivery vehicle stops at the service point to pick up theitem, and/or before a driver of the delivery vehicle exits the deliveryvehicle to make the pick-up. In example embodiments, a service point maybe a delivery location, pick up location, and/or the like.

In some example embodiments, it may be determined, as a delivery vehicleis approaching an upcoming service point, that a service point device islocated at the service point. In some example embodiments, the servicepoint device is an electronic doorbell (e.g., a “smart” doorbell). Inanother example embodiment, the service point device may be an AmazonEcho or other smart device. For example, a service point device may beaffixed to a building or within a building located at/in the vicinity ofthe service point. When the delivery vehicle is within an activationzone (e.g., configurable distance and/or expected time window), theservice point device may be remotely activated to determine if anindividual is available to receive the item at the service point (or toprovide the item for pick up). If user input/interaction is receivedindicating that an individual is available to receive the item at theservice point (or to provide the item for pick up), the delivery (orpick up) is made (e.g., attempted) at the service point. If anindividual is not available to receive the item at the service point,the individual may be given the option of providing an electronicsignature to authorize delivery of the item to the service point. If auser input/interaction is received indicating that a user is notavailable to receive the item at the service point (e.g., an individualindicates that he/she is not available or no user input/interaction isreceived), the attempt to deliver the item to (or to pick up the itemfrom) the service point may be deferred. While, the example of anelectronic doorbell is used herein, a service point device may comprisea variety of communication-enabled electronic devices such as, but notlimited to an electronic doorbell, beacon, storage locker, electronicmailbox, Internet of things enabled device, and/or the like.

In example embodiments, the driver may not exit the delivery vehicleand/or may not remove the item from the delivery vehicle until receivingan indication that the individual is available to receive the item atthe service point, the electronic signature is received, an indicationthat the individual is available to provide the item for pick up at theservice point, and/or that the item has been placed at an accessiblelocation at the service point (e.g., at the back door, on the frontporch, in the garage, in an electronically lockable locker, and/or thelike). If the item is not delivered to the service point (e.g., anindication that the user is not available to receive the item at theservice point and an electronic signature is not provided) an electronicinformation notice may be provided. For example, the electronicinformation notice may be provided to the service point device.

In some example embodiments, if an item is delivered to the servicepoint without being tendered to an individual, a communication sessionmay be established between a service point device (e.g., an electronicdoorbell, electronic locker or mailbox, and/or the like) and the item,such that the service point device may monitor the location of the itemuntil the item is retrieved by an authorized individual (e.g., theconsignee and/or an agent thereof). When the authorized individualretrieves the item from the service point, the authorized individual mayterminate the communication session. If the communication session isinterrupted (e.g., the item is moved from the service point by anunauthorized individual), an alert may be provided.

Example embodiments are directed to communicating with a service pointdevice to efficiently and securely deliver an item to a service point orpick up an item from a service point having a service point devicelocated there at. For example, various embodiments address the technicalproblem of communicating with a service point device. For example,various embodiments address the technical problem of communicatingremotely (e.g., from a yard, several yards, a mile, several miles,and/or the like distance away from the service point) with a servicepoint device, for example, to facilitate efficient and secure deliveryof an item to or pick up of an item from the service point associatedwith the service point device.

Various example embodiments will be described in more detail below.While example embodiments described herein discuss scenarios where anitem is being delivered by a carrier/transporter to a service point, itshould be understood that example embodiments of the present inventionare also applicable to scenarios where an item is being picked up by acarrier/transporter from a service point.

II. Computer Program Products, Methods, and Computing Entities

Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in various ways,including as computer program products that comprise articles ofmanufacture. A computer program product may include a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing applications, programs, programmodules, scripts, source code, program code, object code, byte code,compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions,and/or the like (also referred to herein as executable instructions,instructions for execution, computer program products, program code,and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). Such non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media include all computer-readable media(including volatile and non-volatile media).

In one embodiment, a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium mayinclude a floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, solid-state storage(SSS) (e.g., a solid state drive (SSD), solid state card (SSC), solidstate module (SSM), enterprise flash drive, magnetic tape, or any othernon-transitory magnetic medium, and/or the like. A non-volatilecomputer-readable storage medium may also include a punch card, papertape, optical mark sheet (or any other physical medium with patterns ofholes or other optically recognizable indicia), compact disc read onlymemory (CD-ROM), compact disc-rewritable (CD-RW), digital versatile disc(DVD), Blu-ray disc (BD), any other non-transitory optical medium,and/or the like. Such a non-volatile computer-readable storage mediummay also include read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory(PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory (e.g.,Serial, NAND, NOR, and/or the like), multimedia memory cards (MMC),secure digital (SD) memory cards, SmartMedia cards, CompactFlash (CF)cards, Memory Sticks, and/or the like. Further, a non-volatilecomputer-readable storage medium may also include conductive-bridgingrandom access memory (CBRAM), phase-change random access memory (PRAM),ferroelectric random-access memory (FeRAM), non-volatile random-accessmemory (NVRAM), magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM), resistiverandom-access memory (RRAM), Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon memory(SONOS), floating junction gate random access memory (FJG RAM),Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, a volatile computer-readable storage medium mayinclude random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM),static random access memory (SRAM), fast page mode dynamic random accessmemory (FPM DRAM), extended data-out dynamic random access memory (EDODRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double datarate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), double datarate type two synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR2 SDRAM),double data rate type three synchronous dynamic random access memory(DDR3 SDRAM), Rambus dynamic random access memory (RDRAM), TwinTransistor RAM (TTRAM), Thyristor RAM (T-RAM), Zero-capacitor (Z-RAM),Rambus in-line memory module (RIMM), dual in-line memory module (DIMM),single in-line memory module (SIMM), video random access memory (VRAM),cache memory (including various levels), flash memory, register memory,and/or the like. It will be appreciated that where embodiments aredescribed to use a computer-readable storage medium, other types ofcomputer-readable storage media may be substituted for or used inaddition to the computer-readable storage media described above.

As should be appreciated, various embodiments of the present inventionmay also be implemented as methods, apparatus, systems, computingdevices, computing entities, and/or the like. As such, embodiments ofthe present invention may take the form of an apparatus, system,computing device, computing entity, and/or the like executinginstructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium to performcertain steps or operations. Thus, embodiments of the present inventionmay also take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirelycomputer program product embodiment, and/or an embodiment that comprisescombination of computer program products and hardware performing certainsteps or operations.

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with referenceto block diagrams and flowchart illustrations. Thus, it should beunderstood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations may be implemented in the form of a computer programproduct, an entirely hardware embodiment, a combination of hardware andcomputer program products, and/or apparatus, systems, computing devices,computing entities, and/or the like carrying out instructions,operations, steps, and similar words used interchangeably (e.g., theexecutable instructions, instructions for execution, program code,and/or the like) on a computer-readable storage medium for execution.For example, retrieval, loading, and execution of code may be performedsequentially such that one instruction is retrieved, loaded, andexecuted at a time. In some exemplary embodiments, retrieval, loading,and/or execution may be performed in parallel such that multipleinstructions are retrieved, loaded, and/or executed together. Thus, suchembodiments can produce specifically-configured machines performing thesteps or operations specified in the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations. Accordingly, the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support various combinations of embodiments for performingthe specified instructions, operations, or steps.

III. Exemplary System Architecture

FIG. 1 provides an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 1, this particular embodiment mayinclude one or more carrier/transporter computing entities 100, one ormore items 102, one or more networks 105, one or more vehicles 107, oneor more customer computing entities 110, one or more electronic doorhangers 115, one or more service point devices 117, one or more usercomputing entities 120, and/or the like. Each of these components,entities, devices, systems, and similar words used hereininterchangeably may be in direct or indirect communication with, forexample, one another over the same or different wired or wirelessnetworks. Additionally, while FIG. 1 illustrates the various systementities as separate, standalone entities, the various embodiments arenot limited to this particular architecture.

1. Exemplary Carrier/Transporter Computing Entity

FIG. 2 provides a schematic of a carrier/transporter computing entity100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. A carrier maybe a traditional carrier, such as United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx,DHL, courier services, the United States Postal Service (USPS), CanadianPost, freight companies (e.g. truck-load, less-than-truckload, railcarriers, air carriers, ocean carriers, etc.), and/or the like. However,a carrier may also be a nontraditional carrier, such as Amazon, Google,Uber, ride-sharing services, crowd-sourcing services, retailers, and/orthe like. In general, the terms computing entity, computer, entity,device, system, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably mayrefer to, for example, one or more computers, computing entities,desktops, mobile phones, tablets, phablets, notebooks, laptops,distributed systems, gaming consoles (e.g., Xbox, Play Station, Wii),watches, glasses, iBeacons, proximity beacons, key fobs, radio frequencyidentification (RFID) tags, ear pieces, scanners, televisions, dongles,cameras, wristbands, kiosks, input terminals, servers or servernetworks, blades, gateways, switches, processing devices, processingentities, set-top boxes, relays, routers, network access points, basestations, the like, and/or any combination of devices or entitiesadapted to perform the functions, operations, and/or processes describedherein. Such functions, operations, and/or processes may include, forexample, transmitting, receiving, operating on, processing, displaying,storing, determining, creating/generating, monitoring, evaluating,comparing, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably. In oneembodiment, these functions, operations, and/or processes can beperformed on data, content, information, and/or similar terms usedherein interchangeably.

As indicated, in one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computingentity 100 may also include one or more communications interfaces 220for communicating with various computing entities, such as bycommunicating data, content, information, and/or similar terms usedherein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on,processed, displayed, stored, and/or the like. For instance, thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 may communicate with customercomputing entities 110, electronic door hangers 115, user computingentities 120, and/or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, in one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computingentity 100 may include or be in communication with one or moreprocessing elements 205 (also referred to as processors, processingcircuitry, processing device, and/or similar terms used hereininterchangeably) that communicate with other elements within thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 via a bus, for example. As willbe understood, the processing element 205 may be embodied in a number ofdifferent ways. For example, the processing element 205 may be embodiedas one or more complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs),microprocessors, multi-core processors, coprocessing entities,application-specific instruction-set processors (ASIPs),microcontrollers, and/or controllers. Further, the processing element205 may be embodied as one or more other processing devices orcircuitry. The term circuitry may refer to an entirely hardwareembodiment or a combination of hardware and computer program products.Thus, the processing element 205 may be embodied as integrated circuits,application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), hardwareaccelerators, other circuitry, and/or the like. As will therefore beunderstood, the processing element 205 may be configured for aparticular use or configured to execute instructions stored in volatileor non-volatile media or otherwise accessible to the processing element205. As such, whether configured by hardware or computer programproducts, or by a combination thereof, the processing element 205 may becapable of performing steps or operations according to embodiments ofthe present invention when configured accordingly.

In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 mayfurther include or be in communication with non-volatile media (alsoreferred to as non-volatile storage, memory, memory storage, memorycircuitry and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). In oneembodiment, the non-volatile storage or memory may include one or morenon-volatile storage or memory media 210, including but not limited tohard disks, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, MMCs, SD memorycards, Memory Sticks, CBRAM, PRAM, FeRAM, NVRAM, MRAM, RRAM, SONOS, FJGRAM, Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like. As will berecognized, the non-volatile storage or memory media may storedatabases, database instances, database management systems, data,applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, objectcode, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code,executable instructions, and/or the like. The terms database, databaseinstance, database management system, and/or similar terms used hereininterchangeably may refer to a structured collection of records or datathat is stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as via arelational database, hierarchical database, and/or network database.

In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 mayfurther include or be in communication with volatile media (alsoreferred to as volatile storage, memory, memory storage, memorycircuitry and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). In oneembodiment, the volatile storage or memory may also include one or morevolatile storage or memory media 215, including but not limited to RAM,DRAM, SRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3SDRAM, RDRAM, TTRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM, RIMIM, DIMM, SIMM, VRAM, cachememory, register memory, and/or the like. As will be recognized, thevolatile storage or memory media may be used to store at least portionsof the databases, database instances, database management systems, data,applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, objectcode, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code,executable instructions, and/or the like being executed by, for example,the processing element 205. Thus, the databases, database instances,database management systems, data, applications, programs, programmodules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code,interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the likemay be used to control certain aspects of the operation of thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 with the assistance of theprocessing element 205 and operating system.

As indicated, in one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computingentity 100 may also include one or more communications interfaces 220for communicating with various computing entities, such as bycommunicating data, content, information, and/or similar terms usedherein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on,processed, displayed, stored, and/or the like. Such communication may beexecuted using a wired data transmission protocol, such as fiberdistributed data interface (FDDI), digital subscriber line (DSL),Ethernet, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), frame relay, data over cableservice interface specification (DOC SIS), or any other wiredtransmission protocol. Similarly, the carrier/transporter computingentity 100 may be configured to communicate via wireless externalcommunication networks using any of a variety of protocols, such asgeneral packet radio service (GPRS), Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS), Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), CDMA20001X (1xRTT), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), TimeDivision-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), Long TermEvolution (LTE), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network(E-UTRAN), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), High Speed Packet Access(HSPA), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi),Wi-Fi Direct, 802.16 (WiMAX), ultra wideband (UWB), infrared (IR)protocols, near field communication (NFC) protocols, Bluetoothprotocols, Wibree, Home Radio Frequency (HomeRF), Simple WirelessAbstract Protocol (SWAP), wireless universal serial bus (USB) protocols,and/or any other wireless protocol.

Although not shown, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 mayinclude or be in communication with one or more input elements, such asa keyboard input, a mouse input, a touch screen/display input, motioninput, movement input, audio input, pointing device input, joystickinput, keypad input, and/or the like. The carrier/transporter computingentity 100 may also include or be in communication with one or moreoutput elements (not shown), such as audio output, video output,screen/display output, motion output, movement output, and/or the like.Further, an electronic door hanger 115 may have a locking/unlockingmechanism that can be activated/deactivated remotely or locally by acarrier/transporter computing entity 100, customer computing entity 110,and/or user computing entity 120.

As will be appreciated, one or more of the carrier/transporter computingentity's 100 components may be located remotely from othercarrier/transporter computing entity 100 components, such as in adistributed system. Furthermore, one or more of the components may becombined and additional components performing functions described hereinmay be included in the carrier/transporter computing entity 100. Thus,the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 can be adapted toaccommodate a variety of needs and circumstances. As will be recognized,these architectures and descriptions are provided for exemplary purposesonly and are not limiting to the various embodiments.

2. Exemplary Vehicle

In various embodiments, the term vehicle 107 is used generically. Forexample, a carrier/transporter vehicle 107 may be a manned or anunmanned tractor, a truck, a car, a motorcycle, a moped, a Segway, abicycle, a golf cart, a hand truck, a cart, a trailer, a tractor andtrailer combination, a van, a flatbed truck, a vehicle, a drone, anairplane, a helicopter, a boat, a barge, and/or any other form of objectfor moving or transporting people and/or items (e.g., one or morepackages, parcels, bags, containers, loads, crates, items bandedtogether, vehicle parts, pallets, drums, the like, and/or similar wordsused herein interchangeably). In one embodiment, each vehicle 107 may beassociated with a unique vehicle identifier (such as a vehicle ID) thatuniquely identifies the vehicle 107. The unique vehicle ID (e.g.,trailer ID, tractor ID, vehicle ID, and/or the like) may includecharacters, such as numbers, letters, symbols, and/or the like. Forexample, an alphanumeric vehicle ID (e.g., “AS”) may be associated witheach vehicle 107. In another embodiment, the unique vehicle ID may bethe license plate, registration number, or other identifying informationassigned to the vehicle 107. As noted above, in instances where thevehicle is a carrier vehicle, the vehicle may be a self-driving deliveryvehicle or the like. Thus, for the purpose of the present disclosure,the term driver of a delivery vehicle may be used to refer to a carrierpersonnel who drives a delivery vehicle and/or delivers items therefrom,an autonomous system configured to deliver items (e.g., a robotconfigured to transport items from a vehicle to a service point such asa customer's front door or other service point), and/or the like.

Various computing entities, devices, and/or similar words used hereininterchangeably can be associated with the vehicle 107, such as a datacollection device or other computing entities. In general, the termscomputing entity, entity, device, system, and/or similar words usedherein interchangeably may refer to, for example, one or more computers,computing entities, desktops, mobile phones, tablets, phablets,notebooks, laptops, distributed systems, gaming consoles (e.g., Xbox,Play Station, Wii), watches, glasses, iBeacons, proximity beacons, keyfobs, RFID tags, ear pieces, scanners, televisions, dongles, cameras,wristbands, kiosks, input terminals, servers or server networks, blades,gateways, switches, processing devices, processing entities, set-topboxes, relays, routers, network access points, base stations, the like,and/or any combination of devices or entities adapted to perform thefunctions, operations, and/or processes described herein. The datacollection device may collect telematics data (including location data)and transmit/send the data to the mobile computing entity, the mappingcomputing entity, and/or various other computing entities via one ofseveral communication methods.

In one embodiment, the data collection device may include, be associatedwith, or be in wired or wireless communication with one or moreprocessors (various exemplary processors are described in greater detailbelow), one or more location-determining devices or one or more locationsensors (e.g., Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors), oneor more telematics sensors, one or more real-time clocks, a J-Busprotocol architecture, one or more electronic control modules (ECM), oneor more communication ports for receiving telematics data from varioussensors (e.g., via a CAN-bus), one or more communication ports fortransmitting/sending data, one or more RFID tags/sensors, one or morepower sources, one or more data radios for communication with a varietyof communication networks, one or more memory modules 410, and one ormore programmable logic controllers (PLC). It should be noted that manyof these components may be located in the vehicle 107 but external tothe data collection device.

In one embodiment, the one or more location sensors, modules, or similarwords used herein interchangeably may be one of several components inwired or wireless communication with or available to the data collectiondevice. Moreover, the one or more location sensors may be compatiblewith GPS satellites, such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite systems,Department of Defense (DOD) satellite systems, the European UnionGalileo positioning systems, Global Navigation Satellite systems(GLONASS), the Chinese Compass navigation systems, Indian RegionalNavigational satellite systems, and/or the like. Furthermore, the one ormore location sensors may be compatible with Assisted GPS (A-GPS) forquick time to first fix and jump starting the ability of the locationsensors to acquire location almanac and ephemeris data, and/or becompatible with Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) such as WideArea Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary NavigationOverlay Service (EGNOS), and/or MTSAT Satellite Augmentation System(MSAS), GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) to increase GPSaccuracy. This information/data can be collected using a variety ofcoordinate systems, such as the Decimal Degrees (DD); Degrees, Minutes,Seconds (DMS); Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM); Universal PolarStereographic (UPS) coordinate systems; and/or the like. Alternatively,triangulation may be used in connection with a device associated with aparticular vehicle 107 and/or the vehicle's operator and with variouscommunication points (e.g., cellular towers or Wi-Fi access points)positioned at various locations throughout a geographic area to monitorthe location of the vehicle 107 and/or its operator. The one or morelocation sensors may be used to receive latitude, longitude, altitude,heading or direction, geocode, course, position, time, and/or speed data(e.g., referred to herein as telematics data and further describedherein below). The one or more location sensors may also communicatewith the mapping computing entity, the data collection device, mobilecomputing entity, and/or similar computing entities.

As indicated, in addition to the one or more location sensors, the datacollection device may include and/or be associated with one or moretelematics sensors, modules, and/or similar words used hereininterchangeably. For example, the telematics sensors may include vehiclesensors, such as engine, fuel, odometer, hubometer, tire pressure,location, weight, emissions, door, and speed sensors. The telematicsdata may include, but is not limited to, speed data, emissions data, RPMdata, tire pressure data, oil pressure data, seat belt usage data,distance data, fuel data, idle data, and/or the like (e.g., referred toherein as telematics data). The telematics sensors may includeenvironmental sensors, such as air quality sensors, temperature sensors,and/or the like. Thus, the telematics data may also include carbonmonoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), EthyleneOxide (EtO), ozone (O₃), hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and/or ammonium (NH₄)data, and/or meteorological data (e.g., referred to herein as telematicsdata).

In one embodiment, the ECM may be one of several components incommunication with and/or available to the data collection device. TheECM, which may be a scalable and subservient device to the datacollection device, may have data processing capability to decode andstore analog and digital inputs from vehicle systems and sensors. TheECM may further have data processing capability to collect and presenttelematics data to the J-Bus (which may allow transmission to the datacollection device), and output standard vehicle diagnostic codes whenreceived from a vehicle's J-Bus-compatible on-board controllers 440and/or sensors.

As indicated, a communication port may be one of several componentsavailable in the data collection device (or be in or as a separatecomputing entity). Embodiments of the communication port may include anInfrared data Association (IrDA) communication port, a data radio,and/or a serial port. The communication port may receive instructionsfor the data collection device. These instructions may be specific tothe vehicle 107 in which the data collection device is installed,specific to the geographic area in which the vehicle 107 will betraveling, specific to the function the vehicle 107 serves within afleet, and/or the like. In one embodiment, the data radio may beconfigured to communicate in accordance with multiple wirelesscommunication standards and protocols, such as UMTS, CDMA2000, 1xRTT,WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, UWB, IR,NFC, Bluetooth, USB, Wibree, HomeRF, SWAP, and/or the like. Similarly,the customer computing entity 110 may operate in accordance withmultiple wired communication standards and protocols, such as thosedescribed above with regard to the carrier/transporter computing entity100 via a network interface 320.

3. Exemplary Item

An item/shipment 102 may be any tangible and/or physical object. Suchitems/shipments 102 may be picked up and/or delivered by acarrier/transporter. In one embodiment, an item/shipment 102 may be orbe enclosed in one or more packages, parcels, bags, containers, loads,crates, items banded together, vehicle parts, pallets, drums, the like,and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. Such items 102 mayinclude the ability to communicate (e.g., via a chip (e.g., anintegrated circuit chip), RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and any othersuitable communication techniques, standards, or protocols) with oneanother and/or communicate with various computing entities for a varietyof purposes. For example, the item 102 may be configured to communicatewith a service point device 117 using a short/long range communicationtechnology, as described in more detail below. Further, such items 102may have the capabilities and components of the described with regard tothe carrier/transporter computing entities 100, networks 105, vehicles107, customer computing entities 110, electronic door hangers 115, usercomputing entities 120, and/or the like. For example, the item 102 maybe configured to store item information/data. In example embodiments,the item information/data may comprise one or more of a consigneename/identifier, an item identifier, a service point (e.g., deliverylocation/address, pick-up location/address), instructions for deliveringthe item, an item delivery authorization code, information/dataregarding if a service point device 117 is present at the service point,and/or the like. In this regard, in some example embodiments, an itemmay communicate send “to” address information/data, received “from”address information/data, unique identifier codes, and/or various otherinformation/data. In one embodiment, each item may include anitem/shipment identifier, such as an alphanumeric identifier. Suchitem/shipment identifiers may be represented as text, barcodes, tags,character strings, Aztec Codes, MaxiCodes, Data Matrices, Quick Response(QR) Codes, electronic representations, and/or the like. A uniqueitem/shipment identifier (e.g., 123456789) may be used by the carrier toidentify and track the item as it moves through the carrier'stransportation network. Further, such item/shipment identifiers can beaffixed to items by, for example, using a sticker (e.g., label) with theunique item/shipment identifier printed thereon (in human and/or machinereadable form) or an RFID tag with the unique item/shipment identifierstored therein.

4. Exemplary Customer Computing Entity

FIG. 3 provides an illustrative schematic representative of a customercomputing entity 110 that can be used in conjunction with embodiments ofthe present invention. In one embodiment, a customer may be a consignor(person sending an item/shipment 102) or a consignee (intended recipientof an item/shipment 102). In example embodiments, a customer computingentity 110 may be registered with a service point device 117 (or theservice point device 117 may be registered with the customer computingentity 110) such that the service point device 117 may providenotifications (e.g., doorbell activation notifications) to an individualoperating the customer computing entity 110. In example embodiments, acustomer computing entity 110 that is registered with the service pointdevice 117 may have an electronic doorbell application operatingthereon. The electronic doorbell application may be configured toreceive notifications from the service point device, cause thenotifications to be processed, and provide specific user interfaces(e.g., the alert interface) through the display of the customercomputing entity 110 in response to processing notifications receivedfrom the service point device.

In one embodiment, a customer computing entity 110 may include one ormore components that are functionally similar to those of thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100, item 102, vehicle 107,electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/or the like.In general, the terms device, system, computing entity, entity, and/orsimilar words used herein interchangeably may refer to, for example, oneor more computers, computing entities, desktops, mobile phones, tablets,phablets, notebooks, laptops, distributed systems, gaming consoles(e.g., Xbox, Play Station, Wii), watches, glasses, iBeacons, proximitybeacons, key fobs, RFID tags, ear pieces, scanners, cameras, wristbands,kiosks, input terminals, servers or server networks, blades, gateways,switches, processing devices, processing entities, set-top boxes,relays, routers, network access points, base stations, the like, and/orany combination of devices or entities adapted to perform the functions,operations, and/or processes described herein. As shown in FIG. 3, thecustomer computing entity 110 may include an antenna 312, a transmitter304 (e.g., radio), a receiver 306 (e.g., radio), and a processingelement 308 (e.g., CPLDs, microprocessors, multi-core processors,coprocessing entities, ASIPs, microcontrollers, and/or controllers) thatprovides signals to and receives signals from the transmitter 304 andreceiver 306, respectively.

The signals provided to and received from the transmitter 304 and thereceiver 306, respectively, may include signaling information inaccordance with air interface standards of applicable wireless systems.In this regard, the customer computing entity 110 may be capable ofoperating with one or more air interface standards, communicationprotocols, modulation types, and access types. More particularly, thecustomer computing entity 110 may operate in accordance with any of anumber of wireless communication standards and protocols, such as thosedescribed above with regard to the carrier/transporter computing entity100. In a particular embodiment, the customer computing entity 110 mayoperate in accordance with multiple wireless communication standards andprotocols, such as UMTS, CDMA2000, 1xRTT, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN,EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, UWB, IR, NFC, Bluetooth, USB, Wibree,HomeRF, SWAP, and/or the like. Similarly, the customer computing entity110 may operate in accordance with multiple wired communicationstandards and protocols, such as those described above with regard tothe carrier/transporter computing entity 100 via a network interface320.

Via these communication standards and protocols, the customer computingentity 110 can communicate with various other entities using conceptssuch as Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Short MessageService (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Dual-ToneMulti-Frequency Signaling (DTMF), and/or Subscriber Identity ModuleDialer (SIM dialer). The customer computing entity 110 can also downloadchanges, add-ons, and updates, for instance, to its firmware, software(e.g., including executable instructions, applications, programmodules), and operating system.

According to one embodiment, the customer computing entity 110 mayinclude a location determining aspects, device, module, functionality,and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. For example, thecustomer computing entity 110 may include outdoor positioning aspects,such as a location module adapted to acquire, for example, latitude,longitude, altitude, geocode, course, direction, heading, speed,universal time (UTC), date, and/or various other information/data. Inone embodiment, the location module can acquire data, sometimes known asephemeris data, by identifying the number of satellites in view and therelative positions of those satellites (e.g., using GPS). The satellitesmay be a variety of different satellites, including LEO satellitesystems, DOD satellite systems, the European Union Galileo positioningsystems, the Chinese Compass navigation systems, Indian RegionalNavigational satellite systems, and/or the like. This data can becollected using a variety of coordinate systems, such as the DD; DMS;UTM; UPS coordinate systems; and/or the like. Alternatively, thelocation information can be determined/identified by triangulating thecustomer computing entity's 110 position in connection with a variety ofother systems, including cellular towers, Wi-Fi access points, and/orthe like. Similarly, the customer computing entity 110 may includeindoor positioning aspects, such as a location module adapted toacquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, geocode, course,direction, heading, speed, time, date, and/or various otherinformation/data. Some of the indoor systems may use various position orlocation technologies including RFID tags, indoor beacons ortransmitters, Wi-Fi access points, cellular towers, nearby computingdevices (e.g., smartphones, laptops) and/or the like. For instance, suchtechnologies may include the iBeacons, Gimbal proximity beacons,Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmitters, NFC transmitters, and/or thelike. These indoor positioning aspects can be used in a variety ofsettings to determine/identify the location of someone or something towithin inches or centimeters.

The customer computing entity 110 may also comprise a user interface(that can include a display 316 coupled to a processing element 308)and/or a user input/interaction interface (coupled to a processingelement f). For example, the user interface may be a user application,browser, user interface, and/or similar words used hereininterchangeably executing on and/or accessible via the customercomputing entity 110 to interact with and/or cause display ofinformation from the carrier/transporter computing entity 100, asdescribed herein. The user input/interaction interface can comprise anyof a number of devices allowing the customer computing entity 110 toreceive data, such as a keypad 318 (hard or soft), a touch display,voice/speech or motion interfaces, or other input device. In embodimentsincluding a keypad 318, the keypad 318 can include (or cause display of)the conventional numeric (0-9) and related keys (#, *), and other keysused for operating the customer computing entity 110 and may include afull set of alphabetic keys or set of keys that may be activated toprovide a full set of alphanumeric keys. In addition to providing input,the user input/interaction interface can be used, for example, toactivate or deactivate certain functions, such as screen savers and/orsleep modes.

The customer computing entity 110 can also include volatile storage ormemory 322 and/or non-volatile storage or memory 324, which can beembedded and/or may be removable. For example, the non-volatile memorymay be ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, MMCs, SD memory cards,Memory Sticks, CBRAM, PRAM, FeRAM, NVRAM, MRAM, RRAM, SONOS, FJG RAM,Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like. The volatile memorymay be RAM, DRAM, SRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, RDRAM, TTRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM, RIMM, DIMM, SIMM, VRAM,cache memory, register memory, and/or the like. The volatile andnon-volatile storage or memory can store databases, database instances,database management systems, data, applications, programs, programmodules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code,interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the liketo implement the functions of the customer computing entity 110. Asindicated, this may include a user application that is resident on theentity or accessible through a browser or other user interface forcommunicating with the carrier/transporter computing entity 100,electronic door hanger 115, and/or various other computing entities.

In another embodiment, the customer computing entity 110 may include oneor more components or functionality that are the same or similar tothose of the carrier/transporter computing entity 100, as described ingreater detail above. As will be recognized, these architectures anddescriptions are provided for exemplary purposes only and are notlimiting to the various embodiments.

In one embodiment, customer computing entities 110 may be fixed withregard to their geographic locations, such as by being in fixedpositions at school entrances, bus stops, mall entrances, aisles of astore, in classrooms, on playgrounds, at intersections, on light poles,in cafeterias or hallways, on bridges, and/or the like. In anotherembodiment, customer computing entities 110 may be mobile with regard totheir geographic locations. For example, one or more of the customercomputing entities 110 may be disposed on school buses, worn by schoolbus drivers, be attached to package delivery vehicles, attached tomobile shipping containers, affixed to shopping carts or wheelchairs,positioned in passenger vehicles, and/or the like. As will berecognized, electronic door hangers 115 may also be mobile with regardto their geographic locations by being carried or worn by the respectiveusers, attached to vehicles, and/or the like. As will be recognized, avariety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt tovarious needs and circumstances.

5. Exemplary Electronic Door Hanger

FIGS. 4A-4G represent exemplary depictions of components of anelectronic door hanger 115. In one embodiment, an electronic door hanger115 can be sized and shaped to hang on or around a variety of objectsincluding door knobs, door locks, door levers, other door hardware,posts, fences, mailboxes, lights, and/or the like. FIGS. 4A-4F showparticular embodiments in which electronic door hangers 115 areappropriately sized and shaped by molding plastic to hang on or aroundvarious objects. The electronic door hangers 115 can be created ormolded from one or more plastics, such as Polyethylene Terephthalate(PET or PETE), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Plastic PolyvinylChloride (PVC), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Polypropylene (PP),Polystyrene (PS), and/or the like. As will be recognized, the electronicdoor hanger 115 can also include or be made of a variety of othermaterials as well. In one embodiment, an electronic door hanger 115 (notshown) may also include a pouch that can hold or store various papers(e.g., invoices, receipts, advertisements, and/or the like) and/orcomprise one or more labels.

In some embodiments, components of an electronic door hanger 115 mayinclude one or more display areas/portions 412, one or more processingelements 436, one or more location determining aspects 431 (such asthose described previously), one or more RFID tags 425, one or morepower supplies 440, one or more power switches 442, one or morecommunications interfaces 420, and/or the like. A communicationsinterface 420 may be a long range (e.g., radio transceiver) or shortrange (e.g., RFID tag, NFC) communications interface. A communicationsinterface 420 may be capable of communicating in one or more cellularcommunications protocols, including, but not limited to, UMTS, CDMA2000,1xRTT, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, WiMAX,UWB, IR, NFC, Bluetooth, USB, Wibree, HomeRF, SWAP, and/or the like. Thecommunications interface 420 may allow the electronic door hanger tocommunicate with carrier/transporter computing entities 100, customercomputing entities 110, user computing entities 120, and/or the like. Incertain embodiments, this may allow a carrier/transporter computingentity 100 (or other computing entity) to remotely wipe (e.g., delete)any information/data from the electronic door hanger 115. This may alsoallow the electronic door hanger 115 to establish connections andcommunicate with customer computing entities 110.

A communications interface 420 may be connected to a processing element436 to transmit shipping information/data to the processing element 436so that the information/data may be translated into a format that may becapable of being displayed on a display area/portion 412. A displayarea/portion 412 may be connected to a processing element 436 so thatthe display area/portion 412 may receive shipping information/data thatis to be displayed. A display area/portion 412 may refer to any type ofupdateable electronic display, whether black and white or color, such asGyricon, electrophoretic display, electrowetting display, Light-emittingdiode (LED) display, liquid crystal display (LCD), bistable LCD,electronic paper display, or any similar type of updateable electronicdisplay. A display area/portion 412 may further include displays such aselectrochromic displays, printed electronic displays, or displaysmanufactured using organic electronics or plastics electronics and usingmaterials such as conductive polymers, plastics, and small molecules.

A power supply 440 may be one of many types of power supplies, includinga battery, a power sheet, photoelectric cell, and the like. Such powersupplies 440 may be lightweight, flexible, and ultra-thin. Nevertheless,power supplies that are not lightweight, flexible, and/or ultra-thin mayalso be utilized in an electronic door hanger 115.

A power switch 442 may be any switch that may change the flow of thecurrent or voltage applied by a power supply 440 to a displayarea/portion 412. A power switch 442 may be selectively activated by aprocessing element 436 in order to provide power to illuminate a displayarea/portion 412. As will be recognized, a variety of other approachesand techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

An electronic door hanger 115 may have a variety of other features andfunctionality, including those described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,511,617 andU.S. Publ. No. 2009-0319078, which are hereby incorporated herein intheir entireties by reference.

6. Exemplary Service Point Device

Example embodiments provide for interaction with a service point device117. In particular, the service point device 117 may be an electronicand/or computing device physically located at the service point and/orin and/or affixed to a building or structure located at the servicepoint. Some examples of a service point device 117 include an electronicdoorbell, beacon, storage locker, electronic mailbox, Internet of thingsenabled device, and/or the like. For example, in one embodiment, theservice point device 117 is an interactive, electronic, or “smart”doorbell affixed to the exterior of a residential or commerciallocation. For example, an electronic doorbell may be affixed to a home,office building, trailer (e.g., field office), and/or other building.

In example embodiments, service point device 117 may include one or morecomponents that are functionally similar to those of thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100, the customer computing entity110, the electronic door hanger 115, user computing entity 120, and/orthe like. FIG. 5 provides a block diagram of an example service pointdevice 117. For example, a service point device 117 may comprise aprocessor 150, a memory 152 (e.g., volatile and/or non-volatile memory),one more communication interfaces 154, and/or the like. As with otherentities, the service point device 117 may include one or more imagingdevices 158 (e.g., video cameras and/or still cameras) to capture imagedata (e.g., pictures, video, and/or the like). The service point device117 may also include one or more activity or motion detection sensors156 or capabilities for zones of interest, such as Light Detection andRanging (LIDAR) sensors, laser-based distance sensors, infrared distancesensors, ultrasonic distance sensors, and/or the like. Moreover, one ormore sensor arrays 156 may be configured to detect motion and triggerthe imaging devices to collect, capture, and/or store image data.Additionally, the service point device 117 may be configured tocommunicate with one or more other computing entities (e.g., customercomputing entity 110, user computing entity 120, and/or the like) viaone or more wired or wireless networks (e.g., through a communicationinterface 154). The service point device 117 may be further comprise acommunications interface 154 configured to communication with one ormore other computing entities (e.g., user computing entity 120, item102, delivery vehicle 107, and/or the like) using a short/long rangecommunication technology (e.g., Bluetooth technology, Bluetooth lowenergy technology, near field communication (NFC) technology, RFIDtechnology, Wi-Fi technology, ZigBee technology, infrared technology,ultra-wideband technology, and/or any other suitable communicationtechniques, standards, or protocols. For example, a communicationsinterface 154 may be in communication with one or more antenna 155configured to receive and/or transmit and/or receive short/long rangecommunications.

In example embodiments, the service point device 117 may comprise anexterior interface 160 and/or comprise and/or be in communication withan interior interface 162. In example embodiments, the exteriorinterface 160 is located on the exterior of the building or structurelocated at the service point. In example embodiments, if the servicepoint device 117 is affixed to a building or structure, the exteriorinterface 160 may be located in the vicinity of the service point device117 one the exterior of the building or structure. The interiorinterface 162 may be located anywhere within the building the servicepoint device 117 is affixed to and/or associated with. In an exampleembodiment, the interior interface 162 is secured to an interior wall ofthe building the service point device 117 is affixed to and/orassociated with. In another example embodiment, the interior interface162 is configured to be moved from room-to-room within the building theservice point device 117 is affixed to and/or associated with. Theinterior and/or exterior interfaces 160, 162 may comprise one or morespeakers or other components configured for producing an audible signal;a keypad (soft or hard) comprising one or more press-able, selectable,and/or otherwise interactive buttons/keys; a display (e.g., configuredfor displaying at least notifications and/or pictures, video, and/or thelike captured by the one or more imaging devices 158 of the servicepoint device 117), and/or the like. In example embodiments, theprocessor 150 may be in communication with the interior interface 162via a short/long range communication technology, a wired or wirelessnetwork, or through a direct wired (e.g., USB, Ethernet, or other datacable) or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the interiorinterface 162 may be functionally coupled to the processor 150, and/ormay be operated by a processing element dedicated to the interiorinterface 162. As will be recognized, these architectures anddescriptions are provided for exemplary purposes only and are notlimiting to the various embodiments.

7. Exemplary User Computing Entity

In one embodiment, a user computing entity 120 may be operated bycarrier/transporter personnel/operator (e.g., picking up and/ordelivering items to customers). In one embodiment, a user computingentity 120 may include one or more components that are functionallysimilar to those of the carrier/transporter computing entity 100, thecustomer computing entity 110, the electronic door hanger 115, and/orthe like. For example, in one embodiment, each user computing entity 120may include one or more processing elements (e.g., CPLDs,microprocessors, multi-core processors, coprocessing entities, ASIPs,microcontrollers, and/or controllers), one or more display device/inputdevices (e.g., including user interfaces), volatile and non-volatilestorage or memory, and/or one or more communications interfaces. Forexample, the user interface may be a user application, browser, userinterface, interface, and/or similar words used herein interchangeablyexecuting on and/or accessible via the user computing entity 120 tointeract with and/or cause display of information, as described herein.This may also enable the user computing entity 120 to communicate withvarious other computing entities, such as carrier/transporter computingentities, customer computing entities 110, electronic door hangers 115,and/or various other computing entities. As will be recognized, thesearchitectures and descriptions are provided for exemplary purposes onlyand are not limiting to the various embodiments.

IV. Exemplary System Operation

As noted above, example embodiments increase the interactivity ofdelivering an item to a service point. In example embodiments, a servicepoint device (e.g., service point device 117) may be leveraged toprovide a delivery vehicle driver with an indication of whether or notan individual is available to receive or provide an item 102 at theservice point, whether or not an item 102 to be picked up at a servicepoint is positioned in an accessible location at the service pointand/or provide access to the accessible location, receive a remote(near) real-time electronic signature from an individual authorizing thedelivery of the item at the service point, provide an electronicinformation notice if a delivery attempt of an item 102 is deferred orfails, monitor an item left at the service point, and/or the like.Example embodiments may further leverage interaction with a plurality ofservice point devices each located at a service point of a dispatch planto provide for real-time or near real-time dynamic dispatch planupdates. In example embodiments, the service point device is a computingdevice located at the service point. In an example embodiment, theservice point device is a doorbell affixed to a building associated with(e.g., located at) the service point; however, it should be understoodthat the service point device need not be an electronic doorbell invarious embodiments. Various aspects of the present embodiment will nowbe described in more detail.

1. Map Information/Data

In example embodiments, a service point may be a delivery location, apick-up location, or other location at which a delivery vehicle and/ordriver are to provide a service on behalf of the carrier. In oneembodiment, a “service point” may be any identifiable location, such asone or more addresses, delivery locations, parking locations, sidewalks,highways, trails, alleys, paths, walkways, streets, street segments,entrance or exit ramps, roads, longitude and latitude points, geocodes,zip codes, area codes, territories, cities, counties, states, provinces,countries, stops (e.g., pick up stops, delivery stops, vehicle visits,stops) geofenced areas, geographic areas, landmarks, buildings, bridges,and/or other identifiable locations. For example, a service point may bea residential location, such as one or more homes, one or more mobilehomes, one or more apartments, one or more apartment buildings, one ormore condominiums, one or more townhomes, one or more points at suchlocations, and/or the like. The service point may also be any specificlocation at a residential location, e.g., (e.g., front door of aresidence, side door of a residence, and/or the like). A service pointmay also be a commercial location, such as one or more stores in a mall,one or more office buildings, one or more office parks, one or moreoffices of an apartment complex, one or more garages, one or morewarehouses, one or more restaurants, one or more stores, one or moreretail locations, one or more points at such locations, and/or the like.The service point may also be any specific location at a commerciallocation, e.g., (e.g., front door of a commercial, dock of a commerciallocation, and/or the like). A service point may be one or more streets,one or more street segments, one or more zones, one or more areas, oneor more latitude and/or longitude points (e.g., 33.7869128,−84.3875602), one or more geocodes, and/or the like. A service point maybe any identifiable location. As will be recognized, a variety ofapproaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs andcircumstances.

In certain embodiments, service points can be represented digitally ingeographical maps as map information/data. Map information/data mayinclude boundary, location, and attribute data corresponding to thevarious service points and/or the like. As will be recognized, the mapinformation/data can be stored using a variety of formats, layers,and/or the like—including shapefiles, ArcMaps, geodatabases, coverages,imagery, rasters, computer-aided drafting (CAD) files, other storageformats, and/or the like. For instance, the carrier/transportercomputing entity 100 can appropriately store/record map information/dataas a part of a digital map, e.g., as part of a feature layer, rasterlayer, service layer, icons/graphics layer, geoprocessing layer, basemaplayer, satellite layer, street network layer, points of interest layer,service point layer, and/or the like. The term digital map is intendedto include any map that can electronically display geographic areas. Aswill be described in greater detail below, the geographical maps and/ormap information/data can be used to manage, create, modify, delete, add,and/or the like service points to assigned areas, regions, routes,paths, and/or the like.

As will be recognized, service points can be represented in digital mapsas being accessible by one or more street networks or street segments ofa street network. A “street network” is collection of street segmentsthat comprise navigable, traversable, travelable, and/or similar wordsused herein interchangeably roads, streets, highways, paths, trails,walkways, entrance and exit ramps, bridges, sidewalks, alleys, and/orthe like that can be used to access service points. Similarly, servicepoints, street networks, and/or the like can be represented in digitalmaps as navigable/traversable/travelable segments or points fortraveling to and/or from service points.

In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 canstore information/data associated with each service point in an objector other data structure. The object or data structure may comprise avariety of information/data associated with each service point, such asa consignee name, pickup or delivery identifier, street name, streetnumber, street prefix, street suffix, street type, city, state,province, territory, country, postal code, residential or commercialindicator, street classification, directionals (e.g., one way <specificto which way> or both ways), longitude and latitude, geocode, locationidentifier, and/or the like. Similarly, the carrier/transportercomputing entity 100 can store information/data associated with eachstreet segment of the street network in an object or other datastructure. The object or data structure may comprise a variety ofinformation/data associated with each street segment, such as a streetsegment identifier, street name, street number range, street prefix,street suffix, street type, city, state, province, territory, country,postal code, street classification, directionals (e.g., one way<specific to which way> or both ways), longitude and latitude pointsdefining the street segment, speed limits of one or more portions of thestreet segment, and/or the like. For example, in one embodiment, aservice point may be represented by and/or associated with a longitudeand latitude, a geocode, a nearest street segment, an address, and/orthe like. Similarly, street segments of street networks may berepresented by or associated with a street name, a segment identifier, aconnecting node, an address or address range, a series of longitude andlatitude coordinates, and/or the like that define the overall shape andlocation of the street segment. As will be recognized, a variety ofother approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needsand circumstances.

In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 maystore digital maps. In another embodiment, the carrier/transportercomputing entity may be in communication with or associated with one ormore mapping websites/servers/providers/databases (including providerssuch as maps.google.com, bing.com/maps/, mapquest.com, Tele Atlas®,NAVTEQ®, and/or the like) that provide map information/data of digitalmaps to a variety of users and/or entities. Using the digital maps, anappropriate computing entity can provide map information/data, forexample, about service points (e.g., their locations, attributes, and/orthe like) and/or their corresponding street networks based on mapinformation/data. An appropriate computing entity can also provide mapinformation/data, for example, about the geographic areas, regions,groupings, routes, paths, regions, and/or similar words used hereininterchangeably about the different service points on the streetnetworks. For instance, the map information/data may include a route fordelivering one or more items to different service points, the mostefficient order for delivering items to the service points, directionsfor traveling to and/or from the service points, the estimated distancefor traveling to and/or from the service points, the expected time fortraveling to and/or from the service points, and/or the like. The mapinformation/data may also include other information/data about servicepoints and/or traveling to and from service points, such as currentestimated speeds for associated street segments, historical speeds forassociated street segments, nearest street segments, posted speed limitsfor associated street segments, interpolated locations of servicepoints, reverse geocoded locations of service points, latitude andlongitude points of service points, distances between various servicepoints, directions, stop orders, and/or the like. Certain examples ofthese types of information/data are described in U.S. Publ. No.2013-0304349, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference.

In one embodiment, although not necessary, the map information/data,service point information/data, route information/data, and/or the likecan be provided to the driver of the vehicle 100 in a variety of waysand using various formats. For instance, the mobile computing entity 105(or other appropriate device) may provide turn-by-turn navigation to thedriver of a vehicle 100 for traveling between each stop (e.g., a pickup,delivery, or visit at a service point). As will be recognized, a varietyof other techniques and approaches can be used to adapt to various needsand circumstances.

In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 canidentify, retrieve, determine, and/or similar words used hereininterchangeably map information/data associated with the service points,street networks, routes, paths, and/or the like. For example, thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 can identify the service pointsby address, address portions (e.g., street number, street name, type,and/or the like), latitude and longitude points, routes, paths,geographic areas, service point IDs, and/or the like. Table 1 belowshows a textual view of eighteen service points each associated with aroute, a stop, an address, a city, a state, a longitude and latitude,and/or the like.

TABLE 1 Route: Stop Address City State R1: 1 1 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWNGEORGIA R1: 2 2 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA R1: 3 3 STREET ADDRESSANYTOWN GEORGIA R1: 4 4 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA R1: 5 5 STREETADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA R1: 6 6 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA R2: 1 7STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA R2: 2 8 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIAR2: 3 9 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA R2: 4 10 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWNGEORGIA R2: 5 11 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA R2: 6 12 STREET ADDRESSANYTOWN GEORGIA R3: 1 13 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA R3: 2 14 STREETADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA R3: 3 15 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA R3: 4 16STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA R3: 5 17 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIAR3: 6 18 STREET ADDRESS ANYTOWN GEORGIA

The carrier/transporter computing entity 100 can also identify theinterpolated or reverse geocoded locations (e.g., service points) on thestreet networks for one or more of the service points, for instance.And, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 can reverse geocodethe latitude and longitude points of the service points if available,such as the location of 1 Street Address, Anytown, Ga. being located at33.7869128, −84.3875602. As will be recognized, a variety of othertechniques and approaches can be used to adapt to various needs andcircumstances.

The information/data about service points, routes, paths, regions,geographic areas, street networks, street segments, directions,altitudes, longitudes, latitudes, speed limits, direction restrictions,and/or the like can be collected in a variety of ways.

2. Registration

In example embodiments, a customer may register and/or establish acustomer profile with a carrier indicating that a delivery address (orpick up address) associated with the customer (e.g., a home address,office address, and/or other address that items shipped to the customermay be delivered to the customer) has a service point device 117 locatedthereat. In one embodiment, this registration/customer profile mayfurther include being part of a customer pick-up, delivery, and/orreturns program. As will be recognized, a customer (e.g., consignor,consignee, third party, and/or the like) may be an individual, a family,a company, an organization, an entity, a department within anorganization, a representative of an organization and/or person, and/orthe like. To register, a customer (e.g., a customer or customerrepresentative operating a customer computing device 110) may access awebpage, application, dashboard, browser, or portal of a carrier, suchas United Parcel Service of America, Inc. (UPS).

In one embodiment, as part of the enrollment/registration process, thecustomer (e.g., operating a customer computing device 110) may berequested to provide biographic and/or geographic information/data bythe carrier/transporter computing entity 100 (e.g., via a registrationmodule). Such information/data may be manually input or provided byallowing access to other accounts, such as Facebook, Gmail, Twitter,PayPal, and/or the like. For instance, the customer may provide thecustomer's name, such as a first name, a last name, a company name, anentity name, and/or an organization name. The customer (e.g., consignoror consignee) may also provide any aliases associated with the customer.For instance, if the customer (e.g., consignor or consignee) were anindividual named Joseph Brown, the customer (e.g., consignor orconsignee) may provide Joe Brown or Joey Brown as aliases.

The customer (e.g., consignor or consignee) may also provide one or morephysical addresses associated with the customer (e.g., street address,city, state, postal code, and/or country) to the carrier/transportercomputing entity 100. For instance, Joseph Brown's primary residentialaddress of 105 Main Street, Atlanta, Ga. 30309, USA, may be provided tothe carrier/transporter computing entity 100. Further, one or moresecondary residential addresses may also be provided to thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 for association with Mr.Brown's account and profile, such as 71 Lanier Islands, Buford, Ga.30518, USA. As will be recognized, the residential addresses may includeweekend residences, family member residences visited by the customer,and/or the like. Additionally, the customer (e.g., consignor orconsignee) may also provide one or more business addresses associatedwith the customer (e.g., street address, city, state, postal code,and/or country) to the carrier/transporter computing entity 100. Forexample, Mr. Brown may have a primary business address of 1201 WestPeachtree Street, Atlanta, Ga. 30309, USA. One or more secondarybusiness addresses may also be provided to the carrier/transportercomputing entity 100 for association with Mr. Brown's account andprofile, such as 101 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, N.C. 28280, USA; 950F Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20004, USA; and 90 Park Avenue, New York,N.Y. 10016, USA. As will be recognized, the business addresses mayinclude various office locations for a single enterprise, multipleoffice locations for various enterprises, and/or the like. As will berecognized, the customer (e.g., consignor or consignee) may provideother biographic and/or geographic information/data to adapt to variousneeds and circumstances.

In example embodiments, biographic and/or geographic information/datamay further comprise information/data relating to a service point device117 located at an address associated with the customer. For example, inaddition to providing the street address for a physical addressassociated with the customer, the customer may further provide anindication of whether the physical address is associated with a servicepoint device 117. For example, the customer may indicate that a servicepoint device 117 is located at the primary residential address of 100Main St Atlanta, Ga. 30309, USA. The customer may then provide anyinformation/data required for remote communication with the servicepoint device 117 located at the indicated address. For example, thecustomer may indicate one or more modes of communication by which theservice point device 117 is capable of communicating, an internetprotocol (IP) address associated with and/or assigned to the servicepoint device 117, a name associated with the service point device 117(e.g., Brown Family's doorbell), and/or other information/data needed tofacilitate remote communication with the service point device 117. Inexample embodiments, the customer may further provide preferences foruse of the service point device 117. For example, the customer (e.g.,operating a customer computing entity 120) may indicate a preferredactivation zone for remotely activating the service point device 117.For example, the activation zone may be a number of stops remainingbefore the delivery vehicle 107 reaches the service point associatedwith the service point device 117, amount of time before the deliveryvehicle 107 is expected to reach the service point associated with theservice point device 117, distance the delivery vehicle 107 will travelprior to the delivery vehicle 107 arriving at the service point, and/orthe like.

In one embodiment, once the carrier/transporter computing entity 100receives the necessary biographic and/or geographic information/datafrom the customer, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 mayperform one or more validation operations. For example, thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 may determine whether theprimary address (and/or other addresses) in the specified country orpostal code is eligible for a customer pick-up, delivery, and/or returnsprograms. The carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may alsodetermine whether the primary address (and/or other addresses) is valid,e.g., by passing the primary address through one or more addresscleansing and/or standardization systems. The carrier/transportercomputing entity 100 may perform a variety of fraud prevention measuresas well, such as determining whether the customer (e.g., consignor orconsignee) or one of the customer's addresses has been “blacklisted”from customer pick-up, delivery, and/or returns programs. As will berecognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used toadapt to various needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 maycreate a customer profile for the customer via theenrollment/registration process. Accordingly, the carrier/transportercomputing entity 100 may create and store various customer profiles(e.g., via a database stored, for example, in non-volatile memory 210).In addition to at least the information/data described above, a customerprofile may include one or more corresponding usernames and passwords.As will be recognized, each of the physical addresses may be associatedwith the customer's profile.

In one embodiment, in addition to the physical addresses, the customer(e.g., operating a customer computing device 110) may also input,request, or be automatically generated and assigned a “virtual address.”The virtual address can be a combination of alphanumeric characters toidentify a customer or customer profile. The virtual address can bestored by the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 in associationwith the customer's profile. For example, Joseph Brown (e.g., operatinga customer computing device 110) may input a request for a uniquevirtual address such as BigBrown8675309 or any other unique virtualaddress. In another embodiment, the carrier/transporter computing entity100 may automatically generate and assign a unique virtual address forthe customer, such as assigning virtual address 1XR457RS7 to JosephBrown. Such virtual addresses can be used by customers who do not wantto (a) provide their physical addresses to merchants or other thirdparties, (b) have their physical addresses printed on labels placed onthe exterior of items, and/or (c) the like. For instance, this mayenable a consignor to ship an item using only BigBrown8675309 or1XR457RS7 as the destination address (e.g., virtual address) using theappropriate carrier. Upon induction of the item into the carrier'stransportation and logistics network, carrier personnel can read (e.g.,manually or with the aid of a device) the virtual address on theitem/shipment (e.g., BigBrown8675309 or 1XR457RS7), look up theappropriate physical delivery address for the item/shipment based on theconsignee's profile (e.g., search for the customer profile associatedwith the virtual address), and route the item/shipment accordingly(including the use of automatic service schedules). In certainembodiments, the item/shipment may be routed only using the virtualaddress. That is, each item/shipment the item/shipment is handled bycarrier personnel, a user computing entity 120 (in communication withthe carrier/transporter computing entity 100) operated by the carrierpersonnel can cause display of the appropriate handling or routinginstructions while masking the actual physical delivery address. Inother embodiments, however, once the item/shipment with the virtualaddress is inducted into the carrier's transportation and logisticsnetwork, carrier personnel may place a label on the item/shipment thatindicates the physical delivery address (e.g., based on an addressassociated with the profile and/or automatic service schedule). Suchvirtual address concepts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,108,321, whichis hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference. Both physicaladdresses and virtual addresses may be referred to hereininterchangeably as “addresses.”

In addition to the virtual address, the carrier/transporter computingentity 100 may also generate and store an internal customer identifierin association with the customer profile, such as a global uniqueidentifier (GUID) or a universally unique identifier (UUID). Forinstance, in one embodiment, the customer identifier may be a 128-bitvalue displayable as hexadecimal digits with groups separated byhyphens. By way of example, the customer identifier for Joseph Brown maybe 21EC2020-3AEA-4069-A2DD-08002B30309D. In one embodiment, a customeridentifier may be used to uniquely identify a customer profile. Inanother embodiment, a customer identifier may be used to uniquelyidentify a given address (e.g., physical address or virtual address)associated with a customer profile. In such an embodiment, if a customerprofile is associated with four addresses, the carrier/transportercomputing entity 100 may generate and store four customer identifiers inassociation with the customer profile (or use one customer identifierfor all the addresses for the customer). The customer identifier mayalso be stored in association with item/shipment information/data for anitem/shipment to associate the item/shipment (and its shipping data)with the (a) correct customer (e.g., customer profile) and/or (b)correct address for a customer. For instance, the item/shipmentinformation/data for all shipments corresponding to Joseph Brown'scustomer profile may be appended with the customer identifier createdfor Joseph Brown. In various embodiments, using this approach allowsitems/shipments (and their shipping data) to be linked to appropriatecustomer profiles. Thus, when Joseph Brown accesses his account, he canview all of his shipments (e.g., those shipments with item/shipmentinformation/data appended with his customer identifier (or otheridentifier)). Similarly, any actions for an item/shipment or customercan be passed to the item/shipment information/data for theitem/shipment (including carrying out automatic service schedules).Additionally, if a service point device 117 is located at the deliveryaddress for the item may be easily determined using the appendedcustomer identifier (or other identifier). In other words, the customeridentifier appended to the item/shipment information/data resolves tothe corresponding customer profile/account and/or address. Theitem/shipment information/data may have multiple customer identifiersappended—one or more customer identifiers for the consignor and one ormore customer identifiers for the consignee.

In one embodiment, a customer profile may correspond to one or morecustomer pick-up, delivery, and/or returns programs. For instance, acustomer (e.g., operating a customer computing device 110) may subscribeto a specific customer pick-up, delivery, and/or returns program. In oneembodiment, there may be several customer pick-up, delivery, and/orreturns programs from which to choose, such as a free customer pick-up,delivery, and/or returns program and a premium customer pick-up,delivery, and/or returns program. As will be recognized the customerpick-up, delivery, and/or returns program may have a variety ofbenefits. For example, the customer pick-up, delivery, and/or returnsprogram may allow customers to have access to certain features, e.g.,pick-up and delivery alerts, approximate pick-up and delivery times,pick-up and delivery confirmations, change pick-up and delivery options,electronically authorize the release of an item, and/or routeitems/shipments to will call. Similarly, the customer pick-up, delivery,and/or returns program (e.g., requiring a fee) may allow customers tohave access to certain features—such as the ability to routeitems/shipments to other retail locations, reschedule pick-ups anddeliveries, request that items/shipments be delivered to anotheraddress, and/or provide instructions for pick-up or delivery. Paymentsfor such fees may be in a variety of forms, such as via debit card,credit card, direct credits, direct debits, cash, check, money order,Internet banking, e-commerce payment networks/systems (e.g., PayPal™,Google Wallet, Amazon Payments), virtual currencies (e.g., Bitcoins),award or reward points, and/or the like. As will be recognized, thesefeatures are provided for illustrative purposes and are not limiting toembodiments of the present invention. Moreover, a variety of otherapproaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs andcircumstances.

In one embodiment, once a customer profile has been created by thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100, the customer (e.g., operatinga customer computing device 110) can provide various preferencesassociated with the customer delivery program to the carrier/transportercomputing entity 100 via an interface, for example. For instance, thecustomer (e.g., operating a customer computing device 110) can provide avariety of preferences, such as communication preferences, serviceschedule preferences, delivery preferences, delivery options, remoteactivation preferences, and/or delivery instructions. The customer(e.g., operating a customer computing device 110) may also update anyinformation/data through the appropriate interface (e.g., browser,dashboard, webpage, application).

In example embodiments, a customer (e.g., operating a customer computingdevice 110 and/or an interior interface 162) may register and/orestablish a customer profile through the service point device 117 and/ora provider related thereto. For example, the customer may registerand/or establish a customer profile with the provider of an electronicdoorbell application operating on the customer computing device 110. Insome such embodiments, the registration and/or customer profileinformation may be shared with a service provider such as a carrier. Instill other embodiments, the customer may not register and/or may notestablish a customer profile prior to the service point device 117 beingleveraged for the timely and efficient delivery of one or more items.

3. Remotely Determining Availability at a Service point

In example embodiments, an item is delivered to a service point having aservice point device 117. For example, the service point device 117 maybe leveraged to determine if an individual is available to receive theitem at the service point. For example, item information/datacorresponding to the item may indicate that delivery of the itemrequires a signature from the individual receiving the item (e.g., theconsignee to whom the item is to be delivered and/or an agent thereof).In another example, a service point may be associated with instructionsthat any item delivered to the item requires the item to be received byan individual, and/or the like. If delivery cannot be made to theservice point (e.g., because an individual is not available to receivethe item) an electronic information notice may be provided. Theelectronic information notice may provide the individual withinformation/data (and/or access thereto) for picking up the item at analternate location (e.g., a UPS store, a manned or unmanned lockerlocation, an access point, and/or the like), scheduling delivery of theitem, and/or the like.

FIG. 6 provides a flowchart illustrating various processes andprocedures that may be completed to deliver an item 102 to a servicepoint having a service point device 117. Starting at block 502, it isdetermined that a service point device 117 is present at an upcomingstop. For example, the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107,or carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may determine that anupcoming service point to which a delivery vehicle is scheduled todeliver an item is known to have a service point device 117 presentthereat. For example, the delivery vehicle may be following a dispatchplan, delivery plan, or itinerary (referred to as a dispatch planherein). The dispatch plan may comprise an ordered list of servicepoints at which the delivery vehicle driver is to delivery one or moreitems. Based on the dispatch plan, the next one, two, or few upcomingservice points may be identified. For example, the immediate nextservice point or the next two, three, or four service points may beidentified.

For example, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may beconfigured to generate, create, and/or the like a dispatch plan forperforming the final delivery of the item from a facility to a servicepoint (e.g., a delivery address). The dispatch plan identifies asequence of service points (e.g., service points) and associateddeliveries for a vehicle 107 to perform in a particular time frame(e.g., a work shift, a portion of a shift, etc.) In some cases a servicepoint may be associated with one or more service points (e.g., deliveryaddresses) for delivery of one or more items. U.S. Pat. No. 7,624,024entitled Systems and Methods for Dynamically Updating a Dispatch Plan,filed Apr. 18, 2005, provides a general description of dispatch plansand how these plans may be generated and updated. U.S. Pat. No.7,624,024 is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. Thedispatch plan may include service points (e.g., deliverylocations/addresses and/or pick-up locations/addresses), estimatedarrival times at the service points and/or estimated departure timesfrom the service points.

One or more of the upcoming service points of the dispatch plan may beassociated with a customer profile stored by the carrier/transportercomputing entity 100 (or accessible thereto). Based on the customerprofile, it may be determined if the service point has a service pointdevice 117 thereat. For example, a service point device 117 may beaffixed to a building located at the service point. In another example,it may be determined that an upcoming service point has a service pointdevice 117 thereat by attempting to communicate with the service pointdevice 117 and receiving a response therefrom. In another example, iteminformation/data stored by the item 102 that is to be delivered to oneof the identified upcoming service points may indicate that a servicepoint device 117 is located at the service point. For example, the item102 may provide the user computing entity 120 with item information/datarelevant to the delivery of the item to the service point when (e.g., inresponse to) the service point being identified as an upcoming servicepoint.

For example, after the dispatch plan is established and the associateditems are loaded onto the appropriate delivery vehicle 107, thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 may track the delivery vehicle107 and may determine if an upcoming service point is associated with aservice point device 117. For example, as the delivery vehicle 107progresses through the dispatch plan, delivery progress information/dateand/or location information/data may be collected (e.g., by the deliveryvehicle 107, through the user computing entity 120, and/or the like). Invarious embodiments, the delivery progress data may include anindication of which service points from the dispatch plan have beencompleted and/or which service points are still in need of service. Forexample, the user computing entity 120 may collect data indicating thecommencement or completion of a delivery at a service point. This may bebased on service events (e.g., scan item, receiving consignee signatureand the like), a sensed location of the user computing entity 120 (e.g.,location within threshold distance of service point, entering/exitinggeo-fence) and/or input received from the service provider (e.g., inputindicating commencement or completion). By comparing this progress dataagainst the dispatch plan, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100and/or the user computing entity 120 can determine the progress of thedelivery process. The location data/information may include deliveryvehicle 107 location (e.g., based on location-determining devices,location sensors and/or other telemetry location services) and/or theuser computing entity 120 location. In various embodiments, theselocation determining devices can provide real-time and/or near real-timelocations of the vehicle 107 and/or delivery vehicle driver (e.g., vialocation of the user computing entity 120). In some embodiments,location data may be used in conjunction with telematics data to providedelivery progress data automatically. For example, telematics dataindicating the vehicle status (e.g., engine off, 0 mile per hour, seatbelt released) may be combined with location data (e.g., deliveryvehicle 107 and/or user computing entity 120 location) being within athreshold distance of a predetermined service point may indicate thecommencement of a delivery point. Similarly, telematics data indicatingthe starting of the vehicle (e.g., engine start, threshold speed, seatbelt on) combined with location data being within a threshold distanceof a predetermined service point may indicate the completion of aservice point. In various embodiments, the location data and thecontextual data may be matched through a common data element (e.g., atime stamp from GPS). The carrier/transporter computing entity 100compares the tracking data corresponding to the delivery vehicle 107against the activation criteria established for the items associatedwith the remaining service points (and/or for the customer profilecorresponding to the item and/or service point). For example, thecustomer may request remote activation within a configurable and/oruser-selected activation zone. For example, the activation zone may be anumber of stops remaining before the delivery vehicle 107 reaches theservice point associated with the service point device 117, amount oftime before the delivery vehicle 107 is expected to reach the servicepoint associated with the service point device 117, distance thedelivery vehicle 107 will travel prior to the delivery vehicle 107arriving at the service point, and/or the like. The carrier/transportercomputing entity 100 and/or user computing entity 120 may identify iteminformation/data and/or customer profile(s) associated with theremaining service points and identify those service points that that areassociated with a service point device 117. The carrier/transportercomputing entity 100 and/or user computing entity 120 may furtheridentify the activation zone corresponding to any identified servicepoint device 117. The carrier/transporter computing entity 100 and/oruser computing entity 120 may then compare the current progress and/orlocation of the delivery vehicle 107 to determine if any upcomingservice points are associated with a service point device 117 (e.g.,have a service point device 117 located thereat).

At block 504, the delivery vehicle continues to approach the servicepoint having the service point device 117 thereat. At block 506, it isdetermined if the delivery vehicle is within a configurable activationzone. For example, the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107,or item 102, may determine if the delivery vehicle is within aconfigurable activation zone. In example embodiments, a current (e.g.,real-time or near real-time) geolocation of the user computing entity120, delivery vehicle 107, or item 102 (e.g., determined by a GPS orother location sensor associated therewith) may be used to determine ifthe delivery vehicle or item is within a configurable activation zone.In example embodiments, the activation zone may be an expected time toarrival at the service point (e.g., 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5minutes, 10 minutes, and/or the like), a distance to the service point(e.g., tenth of a mile, quarter of a mile, half a mile, one mile, twomiles, five miles, ten miles, and/or the like), a position within thedispatch plan or itinerary (e.g., when the immediately precedingdelivery stop has been completed, and/or the like), when the usercomputing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, or item 102 is within rangeto communicate with the service point device 117 using a short/longrange communication technology, and/or the like. In example embodiments,the configurable activation zone may be service point or dispatch planspecific. For example, a dispatch plan for performing deliveries tourban service points may use a different configurable activation zonethan a dispatch plan or itinerary for performing deliveries to ruralservice points. Similarly, if a service point is a residential location,a different configurable activation zone may be used than if the servicepoint is a commercial location. In another example, the configurableactivation zone may be day of the week, or time of day dependent. In yetanother example, an individual (e.g., operating a customer computingentity 110) associated with a service point may edit or update acustomer profile associated with the service point to indicate apreferred configurable activation zone for the service point. Forexample, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 and/or usercomputing entity 120 may compare the current progress and/or location ofthe delivery vehicle 107 to determine if the current progress and/orlocation of the delivery vehicle 107 satisfy the activation zonecorresponding to any of the upcoming service points associated with aservice point device 117 (e.g., have a service point device 117 locatedthereat). For example, the carrier/transporter computing entity 100and/or user computing entity 120 may analyze the current progress and/orlocation of the delivery vehicle 107 to determine if the deliveryvehicle 107 and/or the item 102 are within the configurable activationzone corresponding to any of the upcoming service points associated witha service point device 117 (e.g., have a service point device 117located thereat).

If, at block 506, it is determined that the user computing entity 120,delivery vehicle 107, or item 102 is not within the configurableactivation zone, the process returns to block 504. If, at block 506, itis determined that the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107,and/or item 102 is within the configurable activation zone, the processcontinues to block 508. At block 508, the service point device 117 isremotely activated. For example, the user computing entity 120, deliveryvehicle 107, or item 102 may provide (e.g., transmit) a communicationthrough a short/long range communication technology to the service pointdevice 117 indicating that an item is to be delivered to the servicepoint and requesting an indication of whether or not an individual isavailable at the service point to receive the item. In another example,the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, item 102, orcarrier/transporter computing entity 100 may provide a communicationthrough a wired or wireless network (e.g., an Internet protocol networkand/or the like) to the service point device 117 indicating that an itemis to be delivered to the service point and requesting an indication ofwhether or not an individual is available at the service point toreceive the item. For example, the user computing entity 120, deliveryvehicle 107, item 102, or carrier/transport computing entity 100 mayprovide a communication to the service point device 117 through anapplication program interface, through the Cloud, via a Wi-Fi networkaccessible at or in the vicinity of the service point (e.g., within atleast a portion of the activation zone), through a Bluetooth signal,and/or the like. In one example embodiment, the service point device 117may emit a regular signal (e.g., be a beacon). The user computing entity120 or vehicle 107 may detect the signal emitted by the service pointdevice 117 and determine based thereon that the delivery vehicle 107 iswithin the activation zone. The communication to the service pointdevice 117 may be sent in response thereto, possibly through theInternet, the Cloud, through a manufacturer of the service point devicedata center, and/or the like. In yet another example, sensors 156 mayidentify motion in the field of view of an imaging device 158 of theservice point device 117, causing the imaging device 158 to capturedigital image data. The digital image data may be analyzed and the shapeof the delivery vehicle 107 may be identified from the digital imagedata. The identifying of the shape of the delivery vehicle 107 withinthe digital image data may trigger the activation of the service pointdevice 117, in an example embodiment. In another example embodiment,activation of the service point device 117 may trigger the analysis ofthe digital image data to determine if the shape of the delivery vehicle107 is identifiable within the digital image data in order toauthenticate the activation of the service point device 117.

In an example embodiment, the communication provided to the servicepoint device 117 may be configured to identify the service point device117. For example, if the communication is provided by short/long rangecommunication technology, the communication may identify the servicepoint device 117 by name. For example, the service point device 117 maybe aware that it is affixed to a building having the address 1201 WestPeachtree Street. The service point device 117 may then respond to thename 1201 West Peachtree Street, 1201 West Peachtree, 1201 W Peachtree,and/or the like. In another embodiment, the individual associated withthe service point may name the service point device 117 (e.g., through aset up process for the service point device 117) and provide thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100 with the assigned name (e.g.,the assigned name may be stored in the customer profile associated withthe service point, stored in item information/data corresponding to theitem 102, and/or the like). In an example embodiment, the communicationis provided through a wired or wireless network and identifies theservice point device 117 by an internet protocol (IP) address or similaridentifier. In some embodiments, the service point device 117 may not beidentified in the activation request may be provided by a short/longrange communication technology and be directed (e.g., transmitted in adirectional manner) toward the service point device 117. In anotherexample, the activation request may be provided to the service pointdevice 117 located at service point (e.g., affixed to a building locatedat the service point) by a short/long range communication technology andbased on proximity of the delivery vehicle 107, item 102, or usercomputing entity 120 to the service point device 117.

At block 510, a remote activation authentication may be performed. Forexample, the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, item 102,or carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may perform a remoteactivation authentication. For example, a code may be provided to theservice point device 117 to authenticate that the remote activation isbeing performed by and/or on behalf of the carrier/transporter. Inanother example, a “handshake” may be performed between the servicepoint device 117 and the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle107, item 102, or carrier/transporter computing entity 100 toauthenticate that the remote activation is be performed by an authorizedentity. Various other types of authentication may occur in exampleembodiments, to authenticate the remote activation of the service pointdevice 117. In example embodiments, the authentication of the remoteactivation may be completed without action on the part of the deliveryvehicle driver. In an example embodiment, the remote activationauthentication may be performed by determining that at least two of theuser computing entity 120, the delivery vehicle 107, and/or the item 102are located at the location of (or within a predefined distance thereof)the service point device 117 and/or the service point location, forexample as described in U.S. application Ser. No. 14/942,034, which isincorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

For example, in an example embodiment, activation of the service pointdevice 117 may trigger the analysis of digital image data captured bythe service point device 117 (e.g., the imaging device 158) to determineif the shape of the delivery vehicle 107 is identifiable within thedigital image data in order to authenticate the remote activation of theservice point device 117. In another example embodiment, the geolocationof the delivery vehicle 107, the user computing entity 120, and/or theitem 102 may be determined and compared to the location of the servicepoint device 117 to authenticate the remote activation of the servicepoint device 117.

At block 512, it is determined if an individual is available to receivethe item at the service point. For example, the user computing entity120 may receive an indication of user input/interaction (or a lack ofuser input/interaction within a configurable time period) received bythe interior interface 162, a customer computing entity 110, and/orother computing entity indicating that an individual is available toreceive the item at the service point or is not available to receive theitem at the service point. It may then be determined, based on thereceived indication, if a user is or is not available to receive theitem at the service point.

If, at block 512, it is determined that an individual is available toreceive the item at the service point, the delivery vehicle driver isnotified that an individual is available to receive the item at theservice point. For example, the user computing entity 120 may receive adelivery approval notification from the service point device 117 (e.g.,via a short/long range communication and/or via a wired or wirelessnetwork, such as an Internet protocol network and/or the like) and, inresponse thereto, provide an availability notification (e.g., display amessage, notification, alert, and/or the like; provide an audiblenotification; or, in the case of an automated delivery system, provideelectronic instructions) indicating an individual is available toreceive the item at the service point and the delivery vehicle drivershould continue with the attempt to deliver the item at the servicepoint.

For example, at block 514, the delivery vehicle driver may, afterreceiving the availability notification, stop/park the delivery vehiclein the vicinity of the service point, exit the delivery vehicle,retrieve the item from the delivery vehicle, approach the service pointwith the item, and/or the like. For example, after receiving theavailability notification, the delivery vehicle driver may attempt todeliver the item to the service point. In some embodiments, afterdelivery of the item is completed, the user computing entity 120 mayprovide an item delivery notification to the service point device 117 orcustomer computing entity 110 indicating that the item has beendelivered and/or providing information/data regarding the delivery ofthe item.

In an example embodiment, the geolocation of the customer computingentity 110 may be determined (e.g., by a location sensor thereof) andprovided to the service point device 117. The service point device 117may determine if the customer computing entity 110 is located at thelocation of the service point device 117 (e.g., inside or near astructure associated with the service point). In one embodiment, if thecustomer computing entity 110 is not located at the service point, theservice point device 117 may provide an availability notification thatthe individual is not available, even if the individual indicatedthrough the alert interface that they were available.

If, at block 512, it is determined that an individual is not availableto receive the item at the service point, the delivery vehicle driver isnotified that no individuals are expected to be available to receive theitem at the service point. For example, the user computing entity 120may provide a deferral notification (e.g., display a message,notification, alert, and/or the like; provide an audible notification;or, in the case of an automated delivery system, provide electronicinstructions) indicating it is expected that no individuals areavailable to receive the item at the service point and the deliveryvehicle driver should not attempt to deliver the item at the servicepoint at this time. The delivery vehicle driver may, after receiving thedeferral notification, may direct the delivery vehicle to the nextservice point (in the case where the delivery vehicle is not aself-driving vehicle). In some embodiments, in response to the deferralnotification, the delivery driver may not exit the delivery vehicleand/or may not retrieve the item from the delivery vehicle. For example,the delivery vehicle driver may not exit the delivery vehicle and/orretrieve the item from the delivery vehicle until after being providedan availability notification indicating that an individual is availableto receive the item at the service point. For example, the attempt todeliver the item to the service point may be deferred.

At block 516, an electronic information notice may be provided. Forexample, the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, item 102,or carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may provide an electronicinformation notice. In example embodiments, the electronic informationnotice may be provided to the service point device 117 and configured tobe provided (e.g., displayed, provided in an audible form, and/or thelike) to an individual by the interior interface 162 and/or a customercomputing entity 110. In example embodiments, the electronic informationnotice may provide information/data regarding the deferred attempt todeliver the item to the service point (e.g., “An attempt to deliver anitem at this location was attempted at 2:05 pm on Aug. 1, 2016. Asignature is required for delivery of the item. The attempt was deferredbecause no one was available at the service point to receive theitem.”), information/data regarding how an individual (e.g., theconsignee and/or an agent thereof) may schedule a delivery of the item,access to a web-based portal or user interface the individual may use toschedule a delivery of the item, information/data regarding where, how,and/or when the consignee may pick up the item at another location(e.g., a retail location, a manned or unmanned locker, and/or the like),and/or the like.

FIG. 7 provides a flowchart for a similar process as that shown in FIG.6, but from the perspective of the service point device 117. Starting atblock 552, a remote activation request is received. For example, theservice point device 117 may receive a remote activation request. Theremote activation request may be received via a short/long rangecommunication technology and/or through a wired or wireless network(e.g., an Internet protocol network and/or the like). In an exampleembodiment, the remote activation request comprises a code or “name”that identifies the service point device 117. In another exampleembodiment, the remote activation request comprises a geolocation (e.g.,of the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, or item 102) andthe service point device 117 may determine that the geolocation iswithin a configurable radius or area about the location of the servicepoint device 117 and the service point device 117 may process the remoteactivation request based thereon.

At block 554, the remote activation request may be authenticated. Forexample, the electronic service point device 117 may request anauthentication code from the computing entity that provided the remoteactivation request or the service point device 117 may request anauthentication of the remote activation request from thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100. In another example, theservice point device 117 may participate in an authentication“handshake” with the computing entity that provided the remoteactivation request.

At block 556, in response to the remote activation request and/or theauthentication thereof, an electronic alert may be activated. Forexample, the service point device 117 may cause the interior interface162 and/or one or more customer computing entities 110 to dynamicallyprovide an electronic alert interface (e.g., a doorbell alertinterface). For example, an electronic alert interface may bedynamically provided (e.g., displayed, provided in an audible manner) inresponse to the electronic alert being activated. In exampleembodiments, one or more customer computing entities 110 may beregistered with the service point device 117 (or the service pointdevice 117 may be registered with one or more customer computingentities 110) such that when the service point device 117 is activated,an alert is dynamically provided to the one or more registered customercomputing entities 110. The alert is processed by the one or morecustomer computing entities 110 (e.g., in accordance with an applicationoperating on the user computing entity 110) and causes an electronicalert interface to be provided (e.g., displayed) by a display of theuser computing entity 110. In example embodiments, the electronic alertinterface may indicate that a carrier/transporter would like to deliveran item to the service point and request the individual provide feedbackin a configurable time period.

FIG. 8 provides an example alert interface 600 that may be dynamicallyprovided (e.g., displayed) by the interior interface 162 and/or customercomputing entity 110 in response to the service point device 117receiving the remote activation request and/or the authenticationthereof. The electronic alert interface 600 comprises proposed deliveryinformation/data 602, a yes button 604, a no button 606, an electronicsignature option button 608, and a time left to respond indicator 610.The proposed delivery information/data 602 may indicate that thecarrier/transporter would like to delivery an item to the service pointand provide an expected delivery time (e.g., the time remaining until itis expected that the delivery vehicle driver will be at the servicepoint with the item) For example, the proposed delivery information/datamay indicate that the delivery is expected to occur in (e.g., oneminute, two minutes, an estimation of the time required before thedelivery vehicle driver will be at the service point with the item). Theproposed delivery information/data 602 may also indicate where theservice point is (e.g., the address and/or a location at the addresssuch as front door, leasing office, reception area, and/or the like).The electronic alert interface 600 may then provide the individual witha selectable option/indicator indicating that the individual will beavailable to take delivery of the item at the service point, such as yesbutton 604. The electronic alert interface 600 may further provide theindividual with a selectable option/indicator indicating that theindividual will not be available to take delivery of the item, such asno button 606. In some embodiments, the electronic alert interface 600may provide the individual with the option of providing an electronicsignature, such as electronic signature option button 608. Theelectronic signature option will be described in more detail elsewhereherein. The time left to respond indicator 610 may count down the timeremaining for the individual to provide input responding to theelectronic activation alert. For example, the individual may have aconfigurable period of time (e.g., two minutes, one minute, thirtyseconds, twenty seconds, and/or the like) to respond to the electronicactivation alert through the electronic alert interface 600. If the userinput/interaction responding to the electronic activation alert (e.g.,through the electronic alert interface 600) is not received before theexpiration of the configurable period of time to respond, the lack ofresponse may be interpreted as the individual not being available toreceive the item. For example, responsive to not receiving a responsefrom the electronic alert interface within a configurable time period,determining that the user is not available to receive the item at theservice point. For example, not receiving a response through theelectronic alert interface within the configurable time period maytrigger automatic selection of the no button 606 (e.g., cause theprocess to continue as if the no button 606 had been selected). Inexample embodiments, the configurable period of time for responding tothe electronic alert may be less than the expected delivery time,approximately the same as the expected delivery time, or longer than theexpected delivery time, as appropriate for the application. In exampleembodiments, the electronic alert interface may be provided by audiblemeans and the user response may be captured through voice recognitiontechnology (e.g., the individual may say “yes” in response to an audiblealert interface to indicate he/she is available to receive the item atthe service point).

Returning to FIG. 7, at block 558, input information/data is received.For example, the service point device 117 may receive inputinformation/data from the interior interface 162 and/or one or morecustomer computing entities 110 providing an indication of a userinput/interaction (e.g., user selection of abutton/key/indicator/icon/graphic/link (hard or soft), audible userinput/interaction, and/or the like) or an indication that no userinput/interaction was received within the configurable period of time.At block 560, it is determined if the input information/data indicatesthat an individual is available for receiving the item at the servicepoint. For example, the service point device 117 may determine if theinput information/data indicates that an individual is available forreceiving the item at the service point. For example, the inputinformation/data may indicate that an individual selected the yes button604 using the interior interface 162, another individual selected the nobutton 606 using a customer computing entity 110, and another customercomputing entity 110 did not receive a response within the configurabletime period. Based on this example input information/data, the servicepoint device 117 (e.g., the processor 150) may determine that anindividual is available to receive the item at the service point. In anexample embodiment, in response to a positive response (e.g., anindividual selects the yes button 604, registers a “yes” through voicerecognition technology, and/or the like) the service point device 117may determine that an individual is available to receive the item at theservice point and may not wait to receive any further inputinformation/data before making the determination that an individual isavailable.

In an example embodiment, in response to receiving a positive response,the electronic activation alert may be cancelled or turned off. Forexample, the interior interface 162 and/or one or more customercomputing entities 110 may stop providing the electronic alert interfaceand/or may indicate that a positive response has been received (e.g., amessage may be displayed by one or more customer computing entities 110and/or the interior interface 162 that says “Sue said she will acceptdelivery of the item.” if the customer computing entity 110 registeredas “Sue's Phone” receives the user input/interaction of selection of theyes button 604).

If, at block 560, it is determined that the input information/dataindicates that an individual is available to receive the item at theservice point (e.g., at the expected delivery time), the processcontinues to block 562. At block 562, a delivery approval notificationis provided. For example, the service point device 117 may transmitand/or provide a delivery approval notification. For example, theservice point device 117 may provide a delivery approval notification tothe delivery vehicle 107, user computing entity 120, and/or the like. Inexample embodiments, the service point device 117 may provide thedelivery approval notification by a short/long range communicationand/or a wired or wireless network (e.g., an internet protocol networkand/or the like). In an example embodiment, the user computing entity120 may receive the delivery approval notification from the servicepoint device 117 and may provide an availability notification to adelivery vehicle driver (e.g., may display a message, provide an audibleindication, and/or the like) indicating that the delivery vehicle drivershould attempt to deliver the item to the service point (e.g., inaccordance with the expected delivery time).

In an example embodiment, in response to receiving the delivery approvalnotification or as part of authenticating the remote activation of theservice point device 117, the geophysical location of the item 102 andthe geophysical location of at least one of delivery vehicle 107 or theuser computing entity 110 are co-located. For example, it may bedetermined (e.g., by the user computing entity or thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100, that the geophysical locationof the item 102 and the geophysical location of at least one of thedelivery vehicle 107 or the user computing entity 110 are located withina first threshold distance of each other (e.g., 2 meters, 5 meters,and/or the like). After receiving an indication from the driver (e.g.,operating the user computing entity 110) indicating that the item 102has been delivered to the service point, the geophysical location of theitem 102 may be determined. For example, it may be determined that thegeophysical location of the item 102 is within a second thresholddistance (e.g., 2 meters, 5 meters, 10 meters) of the location orgeolocation of the service point device 117 and/or the location orgeolocation of the service point (e.g., a smart device located at theservice point or a known location of the service point). If the item 102is within the second threshold distance of service point device 117and/or the service point, the geolocation of at least one of thedelivery vehicle 107 or the user computing entity 110 may be monitoredto determine when the geolocation of the delivery vehicle 107 and/or theuser computing entity 110 is greater than a third threshold distance(e.g., 10 meters, 20 meters, 100 meters, and/or the like) from thegeolocation of at least one of the item 102, the service point device117, and/or the service point. In response to determining that thedistance between (a) the geolocation of the delivery vehicle 107 and/orthe user computing entity 110 and (b) the geolocation of the item 102and (i) the location or geolocation of the service point device 117and/or (ii) the location or geolocation of the service point is greaterthan the third threshold distance, a delivery confirmationnotification/indication may be generated and/or provided. For example,the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may generate or receive andstore the delivery confirmation notification/indication with the iteminformation/data corresponding to the item 102. In an exampleembodiment, a delivery confirmation fortification/indication may begenerated, provided, and/or received in response to determining that atleast one of (a) the distance between the geolocation the item and thegeolocation of at least one of (i) the delivery vehicle or (ii) the usercomputing entity is greater than a third threshold distance or (b) thedistance between the geolocation of the item and the geolocation of atleast one of (i) the service point device or (ii) the service point isless than a second threshold distance

If, at block 560, it is determined that the input information/dataindicates that no individuals are available to receive the item at theservice point (e.g., in accordance with the expected delivery time), theprocess continues to block 564. At block 564, it is determined if theuser input/interaction indicates that the individual would like to usethe (near) real-time electronic signature option to remotely authorizethe delivery of the item to the service point even though no one isavailable to receive the item at the service point. In this particularcontext, real-time or near real-time is used to indicate that theopportunity to provide the electronic signature may be provided as areal-time or near real-time response to the activation of the servicepoint device 117. For example, the opportunity to provide the electronicsignature (and/or to indicate that the customer would like to provide anelectronic signature) may be provided to the customer (e.g., via thecustomer computing entity 110) within milliseconds or microseconds ofthe remote activation of the service point device 117 and/or delayedfrom such immediate presentation only and/or primarily by automated dataprocessing or network transmission processes required to provide theopportunity to provide the electronic signature (and/or to indicate thatthe customer would like to provide an electronic signature). Thus, theelectronic signature is provided in response to the activation of theservice point device 117 and in a timely manner thereafter such that thedelivery of the item may be efficiently provided without causing delayin the execution of the dispatch plan. If, at block 564, it isdetermined that the user input/interaction indicates that the individualwould like to use the (near) real-time electronic signature option(e.g., user input/interaction selecting the provide electronic signaturebutton 608 is received) the process may continue as described in theDelivering an Item Authorized by a (Near) Real-Time Electronic Signaturesection below.

If, at block 564, it is determined that the user input/interaction doesnot indicate that the individual would like to use the (near) real-timeelectronic signature option to (remotely) authorize the delivery of theitem (e.g., user selection of the no button 606 was received or no userselection was received within the configurable time period), the processcontinues to block 566. At block 566, a delivery deferral request isprovided. For example, the electronic service point device 117 maytransmit and/or provide a delivery deferral request. For example, theservice point device 117 may provide a delivery deferral request to thedelivery vehicle 107, user computing entity 120, and/or the like. Inexample embodiments, the service point device 117 may provide thedelivery deferral request by a short/long range communication, through awired or wireless network (e.g., an Internet protocol network), and/orthe like. In an example embodiment, the user computing entity 120 mayreceive the delivery deferral request from the service point device 117and may provide an deferral notification to a delivery vehicle driver(e.g., may display a message, provide an audible indication, and/or thelike) indicating that the delivery vehicle driver should defer theattempt to deliver the item and not attempt to deliver the item to theservice point (e.g., in accordance with the expected delivery time).

At block 568, an electronic information notice is received. For example,the service point device 117 may receive an electronic informationnotice. In an example embodiment, the user computing entity 120 mayprovide the electronic information notice through a short/long rangecommunication and/or through a wired or wireless network (e.g., anInternet protocol network), and/or the like. In example embodiments, theelectronic information notice may provide information/data regarding thedeferred attempt to deliver the item to the service point,information/data regarding how an individual (e.g., the consignee and/oran agent thereof) may schedule a delivery of the item, access to aweb-based portal or user interface the individual may use to schedule adelivery of the item, information/data regarding where, how, and/or whenthe consignee may pick up the item at another location (e.g., a retaillocation, a manned or unmanned locker, and/or the like), and/or thelike.

At block 570, the electronic information notice is provided to one ormore individuals. For example, the service point device 117 may causethe interior interface 162 and/or the one or more customer computingentities 110 registered with the service point device 117 to provide(e.g., display) the electronic information notice. For example, theinterior interface 162 and/or one or more customer computing entities110 may provide the information/data regarding the deferred attempt todeliver the item to the service point, information/data regarding how anindividual (e.g., the consignee and/or an agent thereof) may schedule adelivery of the item, information/data regarding where, how, and/or whenthe consignee may pick up the item at another location (e.g., a retaillocation, a manned or unmanned locker, and/or the like), and/or thelike. For example, the interior interface 162 and/or one or morecustomer computing entities 120 may provide a delivery schedulinginterface that an individual may use to schedule a delivery of the itemat a time (and location) at which it is expected an individual will beavailable to receive the item.

Thus, example embodiments of the present invention allow for thereal-time or near real-time determination of whether an individual isavailable to receive an item at a service point before the deliveryvehicle driver exits the delivery vehicle to attempt the make thedelivery, before the item is removed from the delivery vehicle for theattempted delivery, and/or the like. In some embodiments, thedetermination of whether an individual is available to receive an itemat a service point may be made before the delivery vehicle parks in thevicinity of the service point to attempt the delivery. If no one isavailable to receive the item at the service point, the attempteddelivery is deferred in an efficient manner that allows the deliveryvehicle driver to efficiently continue with the dispatch plan oritinerary.

As noted above, in example embodiments, a real-time or near real-timedetermination of whether an individual is available to provide an itemfor pick up and/or whether an item has been placed at an accessiblelocation at a service point. For example, the alert interface may askthe individual if they are available to provide the item or if the itemhas been placed at an accessible location at the service point. Inanother example, if a customer has placed an item at an accessiblelocation at the service point, the customer may use the customercomputing entity 110 and/or the interior interface 162 to indicate thatthe item has been placed at an accessible location at the service point.The customer may further indicate the location of the accessiblelocation at the service point (e.g., at back door, on front porch, ingarage, and/or the like). In some embodiments, the customer may furtherprovide any information/data needed to access the accessible location(e.g., a gate code, a garage door code, and/or the like). In an exampleembodiment, the customer may provide permission through the customercomputing entity 110 (e.g., the doorbell application operating thereonand/or the like) or the interior interface 162 for the garage door, forexample, to be opened by the service point device 117 in response to theremote activation request and/or the authentication thereof. In anotherexample embodiment, for example if the remote activation request is sentbefore the delivery vehicle arrives at the service point, a secondrequest may be provided from the user computing entity 120 to theservice point device 117 when the delivery vehicle arrives at theservice point (e.g., when the delivery vehicle is put in park and/or theengine is turned off, when the location of the delivery vehicle isidentified as being at the service location, when the delivery vehicleis expected to arrive at the service point in one minute or less, and/orthe like). The service point device 117 may then open the garage door,for example, in response to receiving the second request. The servicepoint device 117 may automatically close the garage door, for example,after a configurable and/or predefined amount of time. In someembodiments, the user computing entity 120 may provide a third requestto the service point device 117 after the user computing entity 120 haslogged the pick-up (or delivery) of the item. The service point device117 may then cause the garage door to close (or lock a gate, and/or thelike) in response to receiving the third request. Thus, it should beunderstood that remote activation of a service point device (e.g.,service point device 117) may be used to facilitate efficient deliveryand pick-up of items from a delivery location.

4. Delivering an Item Authorized by a (Near) Real-Time ElectronicSignature

As described above, in various situations delivery of an item may needto be authorized by a signature of an individual receiving an item. Forexample, item information/data corresponding to the item may indicatethat delivery of the item requires a signature from the individualreceiving the item (e.g., the consignee to whom the item is to bedelivered and/or an agent thereof). In another example, a service pointmay be associated with instructions that any item delivered to the itemrequires either the item to be received by an individual orauthorization of the item to be delivered by a (near) real-timesignature. In example embodiments of the present invention, a (near)real-time electronic signature may be used to authorize the delivery ofan item to a service point, even if an individual is not present at theservice point to receive and/or sign for the item.

FIG. 9 provides a flowchart illustrating various processes andprocedures that may be used to authorize delivery of an item using anelectronic signature. In general, the process of authorizing thedelivery of an item using an electronic signature may be similar to thatshown in FIGS. 6 and 7. For example, the service point device 117 mayreceive a remote activation (e.g., from a delivery vehicle 107, item102, user computing entity 120, or carrier/transport computing entity100) or an in-person activation (e.g., a delivery vehicle driver maypress an electronic doorbell activation button on the electronic servicepoint device 117). In some embodiments, the electronic activation may beauthenticated. In response to the electronic activation and/orauthentication thereof, an electronic activation alert may be providedto the interior interface 162 and/or one or more customer computingentities 110 registered with the service point device 117. In responseto receiving the electronic activation alert, the interior interface 162and/or the one or more customer computing entities 110 may dynamicallyprovide (e.g., display, provide audibly, and/or the like) an electronicalert interface 600. The interior interface 162 and/or one or morecustomer computing entities 110 may receive user input/interactionindicating that an individual is not available to receive the item atthe service point (e.g., in accordance with the expected delivery time).For example, the received user input/interaction may select theelectronic signature option button 608, and/or the like, indicating thatthe individual is not available to receive the item at the service point(e.g., in accordance with the expected delivery time) but would like toauthorize the delivery of the item using an electronic signature (e.g.,a remote and/or (near) real-time electronic signature). The individualmay then be provided with an opportunity to provide an electronicsignature (e.g., through a text message, voice message, and/or thelike). The service point device 117 may receive input information/dataindicating the selection of the electronic signature option button 608by the individual (e.g., operating the interior interface 162 or acustomer computing entity 110). In some embodiments, the electronicsignature option is provided after and/or in response to the individual(e.g., operating the interior interface 162 or a customer computingentity 110) selecting the no button 606.

Starting at block 702, an indication of selection of the electronicsignature option is received. For example, the user computing entity120, delivery vehicle 107, and/or carrier/transporter computing entity100 may receive an indication that the electronic signature option hasbeen selected. For example, the service point device 117 may provide anelectronic signature option notification to the computing entity 120,delivery vehicle 107, and/or carrier/transporter computing entity 100through a short/long range communication, a wired or wireless network(e.g., an Internet protocol network), and/or the like. In an exampleembodiment, the delivery vehicle driver may be provided with a visual oraudible notification of the receipt of the indication of the selectionof the electronic signature option. For example, the user computingentity 120 may provide (e.g., display, provide an audible signal)indicating that that the delivery of the item is to be authorized usinga (near) real-time electronic signature. The delivery vehicle driver maythen prepare to deliver the item. For example, the delivery vehicledriver may then park the delivery vehicle in the vicinity of the servicepoint (if not already done), and prepare to deliver the item to theservice point (e.g., exit the delivery vehicle, retrieve the item fromthe delivery vehicle, walk with the item to the service point, and/orthe like).

At block 704, the (near) real-time electronic signature is received. Forexample, the user computing entity 120, delivery vehicle 107, orcarrier/transporter computing entity 100 may receive the real-time ornear real-time electronic signature. For example, the service pointdevice 117 may receive the electronic signature (e.g., an SMS or MMSmessage, a text or video message provided through the electronicdoorbell application, a video file or steam, and/or the like comprisingthe electronic signature) from the interior interface 162 and/or acustomer computing entity 110 and provide the electronic signature tothe user computing entity 120 through a short/long range communication,a wired or wireless network (e.g., an Internet protocol network), and/orthe like. In example embodiments, the electronic signature may beprovided in a SMS or MMS message, a text-based or video-based messagethat is provided through a dedicated doorbell application, a video fileor stream, and/or the like. In example embodiments, the electronicsignature may comprise the individuals name in a particular format(e.g., /John Doe/), an item delivery authorization code that matches anitem delivery authorization code stored in the customer profileassociated with the service point, an item delivery authorization codethat matches an item delivery authorization code stored in associationwith the item information/data, the individual saying his/her name, asignature captured through a touch sensitive pad/display, an image thatmatches an image stored in association with the customer profile and/orthe item information/data, an image of the individual that is thenanalyzed to determine that the individual in the image is the sameindividual as is in an image stored in association with the customerprofile and/or the item information/data, and/or the like. In exampleembodiments, the (near) real-time electronic signature may be providedby an individual that is remotely located with respect to the servicepoint.

In example embodiments, the electronic signature may be verified. Forexample, a customer profile may include a sample electronic signature.The sample electronic signature may be compared against the receivedreal-time or near real-time electronic signature to determine if the twoelectronic signatures are a match. For example, the electronicsignatures may be determined to match if they are exactly the same. Insome embodiments, the electronic signatures may be determined to matchif they are substantially the same. For example, in one embodiment, theelectronic signatures /John A Doe/ and /John Doe/ may be determined tomatch. If the sample electronic signature and the real-time or nearreal-time electronic signature are provided through a touch screen,using a stylus, and/or the like, the hand-writing (e.g., pressure mapprofile of the stylus or finger) may be compared to determine if theelectronic signatures were likely generated by the same person.

In various situations, item information/data corresponding to the itemmay indicate that delivery of the item requires the item to be receivedand/or signed for by someone at least 18 years old, someone at least 21years old, and/or the like. For example, if the item is a case of wine,the item information/data may indicate that the item should be receivedby someone of legal age to purchase a case of wine (e.g., 21 or older).In such situations, the delivery vehicle driver may confirm the age ofthe individual authorizing the delivery of the item with the (near)real-time electronic signature, at block 706. For example, theindividual (e.g., operating the interior interface 162 and/or a customercomputing entity 110) may be asked to enter or provide his/herbirthdate; acknowledge a statement wherein the individual agrees thathe/she is at least of a particular age (e.g., 18, 21, and/or the like);provide an image of the individual's government issued photoidentification that may be captured in (near) real-time; and/or confirmthe individual's age in some other manner. In example embodiments, anindication of the authorizing individual's age may be received and itmay then be confirmed (e.g., by the user computing entity 120, thecarrier/transporter computing entity 100, and/or the like) that theindividual is old enough to authorize the delivery of the item. In anexample embodiment, the individual's age (or birthdate) may be stored incustomer information by the carrier/transporter computing entity 100such that the confirmation of the individual's age may be performedwithout the individual providing a birthdate, age, and/or the like atthe time of the delivery.

At block 708, after receiving the (near) real-time signature and/or theconfirmation of the authorizing individual's age (e.g., the age of theindividual providing the (near) real-time electronic signature), or inresponse thereto, authorizing delivery of the item to the service point.For example, in response to receiving the (near) real-time signatureand/or the confirmation of the authorizing individual's age, the usercomputing entity 120 may provide an authorization notification bydisplaying a message, providing an audible sound, or, in the instance ofan automated delivery vehicle driver, an electronic instructionindicating that the delivery of the item to the service point has beenauthorized. The delivery vehicle driver may then deliver the item to theservice point without an individual receiving the item.

Thus, example embodiments of the present invention allow for anindividual to authorize (e.g., sign for) delivery of an item in (near)real-time without the individual being present at the service point. Forexample, the individual may be involved in a project in the kitchen andnot be available to go to the front door at the expected delivery timeor the individual may be remotely located with respect to the servicepoint and authorize the delivery of the item to the service point in(near) real-time. Thus, embodiments of the present invention allow thedelivery vehicle driver to complete deliveries that otherwise would havebeen unsuccessful.

5. Dynamic Route Planning Based on Interaction with Service PointDevice(s)

According to example embodiments, a dispatch plan may be dynamicallyupdated based at least in part on remote interactions with one or moreservice point devices 117, wherein each service point device is locatedat a service point of the dispatch plan. For example, the user computingentity 120 and/or carrier/transporter computing entity 100 may remotelycommunicate with a plurality of service point devices 117 and then,based on the communications (e.g., availability information/datareceived from the plurality of service point devices) and leveraging mapinformation/data, the route for completing the dispatch plan for thedelivery vehicle may be dynamically updated. Thus, based oncommunications with a plurality of service point devices 117, a routeused to traverse a neighborhood or zone of a delivery route may bedetermined after the delivery vehicle arrives at the neighborhood orzone of the delivery route and/or as the delivery vehicle is approachingthe neighborhood or zone of the delivery route.

FIG. 10 provides a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures thatmay be implemented in an example embodiment to dynamically update adispatch plan based on remote interactions with one or more servicepoint devices. Starting at block 1002, the user computing entity 120 mayidentify one or more (e.g., a plurality) of service point devices atwhich an item is to be delivered or picked up and that is associatedwith an service point device located at the service point. For example,the vehicle 107 may enter and/or be approaching a neighborhood or othergeographically defined area having one or more service points that thevehicle 107 is to service, according to the dispatch plan. The one ormore service points may be identified by the user computing entity 120,based on the dispatch plan.

At block 1004, at least one of the one or more service point devices 117may be remotely activated. For example, a plurality of service pointdevices 117 located within the neighborhood or other geographicallydefined area and located at service points to be serviced by the vehicle107, according to the dispatch plan, may be activated. For example,similar to the alert interface shown in FIG. 8, an alert interface maybe provided to one or more individuals (e.g., through the interiorinterface 162 and/or one or more customer computing entities 110). Thealert interface may ask the individual if the individual is available toaccept delivery of an item or provide an item for pick up at the servicepoint within the next five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, twentyminutes, half an hour, and/or the like. In an example embodiment, thealert interface may allow an individual to enter a custom time period atwhich they will be available. For example, a user may enter that theyare not available in the next ten minutes, but they will be availableafter the next ten minutes. In another example, the user may indicatethat they are only available for the next ten minutes and will not beavailable thereafter. The individual may then interact with the alertinterface (e.g., through the interior interface 162 and/or customercomputing entity 110) to provide input indicating the individual'savailability to receive a delivery or provide an item for pick up at theservice point. In some embodiments, if input indicating an individual'savailability is not received within the configurable time period, it maybe determined that the individual is not available.

At block 1006, availability information/data is received from theremotely activated service point devices 117. For example, the usercomputing entity 120 may receive availability information/data from theremotely activated service point devices 117. For example, in responseto receiving input indicating the individual's availability (ordetermining that no input was received within the configurable timeperiod), a service point device may provide availabilityinformation/data to the user computing entity 120.

At block 1008, map information/data may be accessed. For example, mapinformation/data corresponding to the neighborhood or othergeographically defined area where the plurality of service point devices117 are located, may be accessed. For example, the user computing entity120 may access map information/data.

At block 1010, a dispatch plan update may be determined based on thereceived availability information/data and the map information/data. Forexample, the user computing entity 120 may determine a dispatch planupdate for providing service (e.g., item delivery or pick up) at one ormore of the service points identified within the neighborhood or othergeographically defined area. The dispatch plan update may be based onthe received availability information/data and/or the mapinformation/data. For example, the dispatch plan may be updated in realtime and/or near real time based on the received availabilityinformation/data. For example, the dispatch plan may be updated as thevehicle 107 is approaching and/or servicing a neighborhood or othergeographically defined area based on received availabilityinformation/data. For example, a route through the neighborhood or othergeographically defined area may be determined and/or updated based onthe availability information/data. For example, in an exampleembodiment, an individual associated with service point A may provideinput indicating they are available for the next five minutes but notthereafter and an individual associated with service point B may provideinput indicating that the user is not available within the next fiveminutes, but will be available five to twenty minutes from now. Thedispatch plan update may route the vehicle 107 such that it is expectedthat the vehicle 107 will arrive at the service point A within the nextfive minutes and will arrive at service point B at least five minutesfrom now, but less than twenty minutes from now. Thus, a dispatch planupdate may be determined based on the received availabilityinformation/data.

At block 1012, the dispatch plan update may be provided. For example, inresponse to determining and/or receiving the dispatch plan update, theuser computing entity 120 may cause the user computing entity 120 toprovide at least a portion of the dispatch plan update. For example, theuser computing entity 120 may provide text, map, and/or audible turn byturn directions for executing the dispatch plan. The user computingentity 120 may therefore provide text, map, and/or audible turn by turndirections for the dispatch plan update, such that the item deliveriesand pick-ups may be performed in accordance with the dispatch planupdate.

6. Monitoring of Item Delivered to Service Point without being Received

In example embodiments, an item 102 may be delivered to a service pointhaving a service point device (e.g., service point device 117) locatedat the service point (e.g., affixed to a building or structure locatedat the service point, within a building or structure located at theservice point, and/or the like). However, the item 102 may not bereceived by an individual at the time of delivery. For example, the itemmay be left on a front porch, by a back door, in or by a garage, and/orat another accessible location at the service point. In an exampleembodiment, a service point device 117 may be used to monitor the item102 to ensure that the item is not removed from the service point by anunauthorized individual. In an example embodiment, the service pointdevice 117 may be configured to receive scheduled communications fromthe item 102 (e.g., via a short/long range communication technology). Ifa scheduled communication is not received and/or a characteristic of thecommunication does not match expectations, an alert may be provided. Forexample, if the signal strength of a received scheduled communication issignificantly different than a previously received communication, it maybe determined that a characteristic of the communication does not matchexpectations. Some example characteristics of the communication may besignal strength, a location of the item 102 (e.g., geophysicalcoordinates) provided in the communication, the absence or change of theitem 102 in an image captured by the imaging device 158, and/or thelike.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating processes and procedures that may beused to monitor an item 102 that was delivered to a service point usinga service point device (e.g., service point device 117). Starting atblock 802, the delivery vehicle driver may place the item at the servicepoint and establish a communication session between the item 102 and theservice point device 117. In one example embodiment, the communicationsession between the item 102 and the service point device 117 may beestablished before the item 102 is removed from the delivery vehicle.For example, the user computing entity 120 may establish a communicationsession between the item 102 and the service point device 117. Forexample, the user computing entity 120 may provide a communication tothe service point device 117 (e.g., via a short range communicationtechnology, an Internet protocol network, and/or the like) indicatingthat the service point device 117 should search for a signal beingprovided by the item 102. In an example embodiment, the user computingentity 120 may provide the service point device 117 with a signature ofthe signal that may be provided by the item 102. For example, the item102 may emit a signal comprising an item identifier or other particularcode, at a particular frequency, and/or having some other particularcharacteristic. For example, the item 102 may be a beacon, have an RFIDtag affixed thereto (or within the item 102), and/or the like. In anexample embodiment, the user computing entity 120 may provide theservice point device 117 with information regarding how frequently theservice point device 117 should expect to receive a signal from the item102 (e.g., every five seconds, every thirty seconds, once per minute,once every five minutes, once every ten minutes, once every half anhour, and/or the like). In example embodiments, the item 102 may providea signal in response to receiving a communication from the service pointdevice 117, rather than emitting a signal at a regular interval. In suchembodiments, the user computing entity 120 may provide the service pointdevice 117 with instructions for how frequently the service point device117 should perform this call and response with the item 102. In someembodiments, the item 102 provides a signal and/or the service pointdevice 117 and the item 102 to perform a call and response at aconfigurable, default frequency. In an example embodiment, an initiatingcommunication may be received by the service point device 117 from theitem 102 at the time of delivery to initiate the communication sessionand provide the service point device 117 with a baseline signal strengthof the communication provided by the item 102 when the item 102 is atthe service point.

At block 804, it is determined if an expected and/or scheduledcommunication from the item 102 is received. For example, the servicepoint device 117 may determine if an expected and/or scheduledcommunication is received from the item 102.

If the expected and/or scheduled communication is received, it may bedetermined if a characteristic of the communication matches expectationsfor the characteristic of the communication, at block 806. Theexpectation of the characteristic of the communication may be based onan earlier communication and/or characteristic(s) thereof. For example,it may be determined if the received communication is of a similarsignal strength to a previously received communication. For example, theservice point device 117 may determine if the received communication isof a similar signal strength when compared to a previously receivedcommunication. For example, the service point device 117 may determineif the signal strength of the received communication varies by less thana signal change threshold when compared to the baseline signal strength,the signal strength of the immediately preceding communication, anaverage signal strength of the n preceding communications (e.g., thefive communications immediately preceding the most recently receivedcommunication, and/or the like), and/or the like. In another exampleembodiment, the service point device 117 may determine if the signalstrength of the received communication varies from one or morepreviously received communications in an expectable way. For example, ifthe signal provided by the item 102 is battery powered and the servicepoint device 117 has been monitoring the item 102 for several hours, itmay be expected that the signal strength of the communication providedby the item 102 may be slowly declining (e.g., declining at a particularrate, and/or the like).

If, at block 806, it is determined that the signal strength of thereceived communication is similar to one or more previously receivedsignal strengths and/or varies from one or more previously receivedsignal strengths in an expected way, the process may return to block 804to determine if the next scheduled communication is received. Forexample, if it is determined that the signal strength of the receivedcommunication is in accordance with an expected signal strength based atleast in part on at least one previously received communication, theprocess may return to block 804.

If it is determined at block 804 that the scheduled communication wasnot received and/or it was determined at block 806 that the signalstrength of the received communication was different than expected, theprocess continues to block 808. At block 808, it is determined if aretrieval notification has been received. For example, the service pointdevice 117 may determine if a retrieval notification has been received.For example, if an authorized individual (e.g., the consignee and/or anagent thereof) retrieves the item from the service point, the authorizedindividual may access a retrieval interface through the interiorinterface 162 and/or a customer computing entity 110 and provide userinput/interaction indicating that the user retrieved the item 102 fromthe service point. In an example embodiment, block 808 may comprisecausing display of a retrieval interface 850 (e.g., via the interiorinterface 162 and/or one or more customer computing entities 110) askingif the individual retrieved the item from the service point. Forexample, FIG. 12 provides an example retrieval interface 850. Theretrieval interface 850 may comprise delivery information/data 852, ayes button 854, and a no button 856. For example, the deliveryinformation/data 852 may provide the individual with theinformation/data identifying the service point to which the item 102 wasdelivered (e.g., an address and a particular location at the address).The individual may select the yes button 854 to indicate that anauthorized individual retrieved the item 102 from the service point andprovide a retrieval notification to the service point device 117.Similarly, the individual may select the no button 856 to indicate thatan authorized individual did not retrieve the item 102 from the servicepoint. If the individual selects the no button 856 and/or does notrespond within a configurable retrieval time period (e.g., one minute,two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes, and/or the like), the interiorinterface 162 and/or the customer computing entity 110 may not provide aretrieval notification to the service point device 117.

If at block 808 it is determined that a retrieval notification has beenreceived, the process ends and the service point device 117 is relievedfrom monitoring the item 102. If at block 808 it is determined that aretrieval notification has not been received, the process continues toblock 810. At block 810, an alert is provided indicating that the item102 has been moved and/or tampered with by a non-authorized individual.For example, the service point device 117 may provide an alert to theinterior interface 162, one or more customer computing entities 110,and/or the carrier/transporter computing entity 100 indicating that theitem 102 has likely been moved and/or tampered with by a non-authorizedindividual. In some embodiments, the service point device 117 mayprovide an audible and/or visual alert through the exterior interface160, may turn on the imaging device 158 to capture one or more imagesand/or videos, and/or the like.

In example embodiments, a characteristic of the scheduled communicationother than the signal strength of the communication may be used todetermine if an item has been moved. For example, in some embodiments,the considered characteristic of the scheduled communication may be ageophysical location of the item (as indicated in the communication),image and/or video data of the item, the signal strength of thecommunication, and/or any combination thereof. In an embodiment, thescheduled communication from the item 102 may comprise geophysicalcoordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of the current location ofthe item 102. The service point device 117 may then determine if themost recently received geophysical coordinates indicate movement of theitem 102 with respect to one or more previously received geophysicalcoordinates for the item 102. For example, it may be determined if thegeophysical coordinates of the item 102 indicate that the item 102 hasbeen moved from the service point. If the item 102 has been moved, analert may be provided (e.g., to the carrier/transporter computing entity100, the customer computing entity 110, through the internal interface162, and/or the like).

In another example embodiment, the communication session may comprisethe service point device 117 capturing digital image data and/or videodata of the item 102. For example, the item 102 may be placed in aposition where it is within the view of one or more imaging devices 158of the service point device 117. The most recently captured digitalimage data and/or video data may be compared against previously captureddigital image data and/or video data to determine if the item 102 hasbeen moved or otherwise tampered with.

In example embodiments, it should be understood that a customer mayinitiate a communication session between a service point device 117 andan item 102 that is to be picked-up by the carrier. For example, thecustomer may place the item 102 at an accessible location at the servicepoint and establish the communication session between the service pointdevice and the item 102. When the pick-up of the item 102 occurs, theuser computing entity 120 may provide a retrieval notification to theservice point device 117. The customer (e.g., operating the interiorinterface 162, customer computing entity 110, and/or the like) may thenbe alerted that the carrier has picked-up the item 102.

Thus, example embodiments of the present invention allow a service pointdevice (e.g., a service point device 117) to monitor an item to insurethe item is retrieved by an authorized individual and to provide a(near) real-time alert if the item is moved and/or tampered with by anon-authorized individual. For example, the service point device maycapture images that may comprise the non-authorized individual movingand/or tampering with the item and/or may sound an alarm that may causethe non-authorized individual to leave the item and leave the premises.

V. Conclusion

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which thisinvention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is tobe understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specificembodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments areintended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a genericand descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

1. A method comprising: for an upcoming service point (a) at which anitem is to be delivered or picked up and (b) that is associated with anservice point device located at the service point, determining whether adelivery vehicle servicing the service point is within an activationzone for activating the service point device; responsive to determiningthat the delivery vehicle servicing the service point is within anactivation zone for activating the service point device, remotelyactivating the service point device, wherein remotely activating theservice point device causes the service point device to dynamicallyprovide an alert interface for user interaction with a user; receivingan indication of user interaction via the alert interface indicatingavailability of the user to receive or provide the item at the servicepoint; and providing a notification of the indication of the userinteraction, wherein if the notification indicates that the individualis available to receive or provide the item at the service point, theitem is delivered to or picked up from the service point.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the determination that the delivery vehicle iswithin the activation zone is based at least in part on a location ofthe service point device and geolocation data determined by at least oneof (a) a delivery vehicle, (b) a user computing entity, or (c) the item.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determination that the deliveryvehicle is within the activation zone is based on a communication withthe service point device using a short range or long range communicationtechnology.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert interfaceindicates an expected delivery window for delivery of the item.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the alert interface provides a firstselectable indicator to indicate that the individual is available toreceive the item at the service point and a second selectable indicatorto indicate that the individual is not available to receive the item atthe service point.
 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising,responsive to either (a) not receiving a response from the alertinterface within a configurable time period, or (b) receiving a responsefrom the alert interface indicating the user is not available to receivethe item at the service point, indicating that the user is not availableto receive the item at the service point.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein remotely activating the service point device comprises either(a) providing a short range or long range communication directly to theservice point device, (b) providing a communication to the service pointdevice through an Internet protocol network, or (c) both.
 8. The methodof claim 1, further comprising after remotely activating the servicepoint device and before the alert interface is provided, authenticatingthe remote activation of the service point device.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising generating a delivery confirmationindication in response to determining that at least one of (a) thedistance between the geolocation the item and the geolocation of atleast one of (i) the delivery vehicle or (ii) the user computing entityis greater than a third threshold distance or (b) the distance betweenthe geolocation of the item and the geolocation of at least one of (i)the service point device or (ii) the service point is less than a secondthreshold distance.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving an indication that the individual will provide an electronicsignature for delivery of the item to the service point; receiving theelectronic signature; and in response to receiving the electronicsignature, providing a notification indicating that delivery of the itemto the service point is authorized.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinthe electronic signature is received through at least one of ShortMessage Service (SMS), a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), mobileapplication specific message, instant message, or video message.
 12. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the alert interface provides a selectableindicator to indicate that the individual will provide the electronicsignature.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising: for anupcoming plurality of service points (a) at which an item is to bedelivered or picked up and (b) that are each associated with a servicepoint device located at the service point, determining whether adelivery vehicle servicing the service point is within an activationzone for activating the service point device; for each of the pluralityof service points, responsive to determining that the delivery vehicleservicing the service point is within an activation zone for activatingthe service point device, remotely activating the service point device,wherein remotely activating the service point device causes the servicepoint device to dynamically provide an alert interface for userinteraction with a user; receiving a plurality of communications, eachcommunication comprising an indication of user interaction via the alertinterface indicating availability of the user to receive or provide theitem at one of the plurality of service points; and determining a routefor delivering or picking up items to at least one of the plurality ofservice points based on the plurality of communications.
 14. Anapparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memorystoring computer program code, the at least one memory and the computerprogram code configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus toat least: for an upcoming service point (a) at which an item is to bedelivered and (b) that is associated with a service point device locatedat the service point, determine whether a delivery vehicle servicing theservice point is within an activation zone for activating the servicepoint device; responsive to determining that the delivery vehicle iswithin an activation zone for activating the service point device,remotely activate the service point device, wherein remotely activatingthe service point device causes the service point device to dynamicallyprovide an alert interface for user interaction with a user; receive anindication of user interaction via the alert interface indicatingavailability of the user to receive the item at the service point; andprovide a notification of the indication of the user interaction,wherein if the notification indicates that the individual is availableto receive the item at the service point, the item is delivered to theservice point.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the determinationthat the delivery vehicle is within the activation zone is based atleast in part on a location of the service point device and geolocationdata determined by at least one of (a) a delivery vehicle, (b) a usercomputing entity, or (c) the item.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14,wherein the determination that the delivery vehicle is within theactivation zone is based on a communication with the service pointdevice using a short range or long range communication technology. 17.The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one memory and thecomputer program code are further configured to, with the processor,cause the apparatus to at least, responsive to either (a) not receivinga response from the alert interface within a configurable time period,or (b) receiving a response from the alert interface indicating the useris not available to receive the item at the service point, indicate thatthe user is not available to receive the item at the service point. 18.The apparatus of claim 14, wherein remotely activating the service pointdevice comprises either (a) providing a short range or long rangecommunication directly to the service point device, (b) providing acommunication to the service point device through an Internet protocolnetwork, or (c) both.
 19. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the atleast one memory and the computer program code are further configuredto, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least, after remotelyactivating the service point device and before the alert interface isprovided, authenticate the remote activation of the service pointdevice.
 20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one memoryand the computer program code are further configured to, with theprocessor, cause the apparatus to at least generate a deliveryconfirmation indication in response to determining that at least one of(a) the distance between the geolocation the item and the geolocation ofat least one of (i) the delivery vehicle or (ii) the user computingentity is greater than a third threshold distance or (b) the distancebetween the geolocation of the item and the geolocation of at least oneof (i) the service point device or (ii) the service point is less than asecond threshold distance.
 21. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the atleast one memory and the computer program code are further configuredto, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least: receive anindication that the individual will provide an electronic signature fordelivery of the item to the service point; receive the electronicsignature; and in response to receiving the electronic signature,provide a notification indicating that delivery of the item to theservice point is authorized.
 22. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein theat least one memory and the computer program code are further configuredto, with the processor, cause the apparatus to at least: for an upcomingplurality of service points (a) at which an item is to be delivered orpicked up and (b) that are each associated with an service point devicelocated at the service point, determine whether a delivery vehicleservicing the service point is service point within an activation zonefor activating the service point device; for each of the plurality ofservice points, responsive to determining that the delivery vehicleservicing the service point is within an activation zone for activatingthe service point device, remotely activate the service point device,wherein remotely activating the service point device causes the servicepoint device to dynamically provide an alert interface for userinteraction with a user; receive a plurality of communications, eachcommunication comprising an indication of user interaction via the alertinterface indicating availability of the user to receive or provide theitem at one of the plurality of service points; and determine a routefor delivering or picking up items to at least one of the plurality ofservice points based on the plurality of communications.
 23. A computerprogram product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium having computer-executable program code instructionsstored therein, the computer-executable program code instructionscomprising program code instructions configured to: for an upcomingservice point (a) at which an item is to be delivered and (b) that isassociated with a service point device located at the service point,determine whether a delivery vehicle servicing the service point iswithin an activation zone for activating the service point device;responsive to determining that the delivery vehicle is within anactivation zone for activating the service point device, remotelyactivate the service point device, wherein remotely activating theservice point devices causes the service point device to dynamicallyprovide an alert interface for user interaction with a user; receive anindication of user interaction via the alert interface indicatingavailability of the user to receive the item at the service point; andprovide a notification of the indication of the user interaction,wherein if the notification indicates that the individual is availableto receive the item at the service point, the item is delivered to theservice point.
 24. The method of claim 1, wherein the delivery vehicleis (a) an unmanned aerial vehicle, (b) an unmanned terrestrial vehicle,or (c) a manned terrestrial vehicle.
 25. The apparatus of claim 14,wherein the delivery vehicle is (a) an unmanned aerial vehicle, (b) anunmanned terrestrial vehicle, or (c) a manned terrestrial vehicle.